Page 7 - MEOG Week 24 2022

MEOG PIPELINES & TRANSPORT MEOG

EU signs gas deal with Egypt,

Israel to secure long-term supplies

EAST MED THE European Union has signed a memoran- and shipment of natural gas to the EU and
dum of understanding (MoU) with Egypt and encourage European companies to invest in nat-
Israel with the aim of securing the stable delivery ural gas exploration and production in Israel and
of natural gas to the bloc based on the principle Egypt.
of market-oriented pricing. Existing infrastructure between the two
“This is a historic day for the EU’s energy countries consists of undersea pipelines connect-
engagement & energy security: signing the MoU ing natural gas production from two offshore
with Egypt and Israel, two reliable, strategic part- Israeli fields to the Egyptian natural gas grid. This
ners,” tweeted Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner enables liquefied natural gas (LNG) production
for Energy, following the signing on June 15. at Idku and Damietta LNG plants in Egypt with
The MoU was signed between the ministers a total production capacity of 12mn tonnes per
of energy of Egypt and Israel in the presence of year (tpy).
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European After achieving self-sufficiency in natural gas
Commission. in 2018, Egypt is looking to become a regional
“With this agreement, we will work on the energy hub by strengthening regional co-op-
stable delivery of natural gas to the EU from the eration and developing new discoveries. The
East Mediterranean region,” she tweeted shortly EU hopes to secure a growing share of Egypt’s
after the ministerial meeting of the East Medi- LNG exports helping the country to fulfil that
terranean Gas Forum (EastMed), where the deal ambition.
was reached. By taking the initiative to bring all sides to the
“This will contribute to our EU energy secu- table to sign the MoU, the EU has made clear its
rity, and we are building infrastructure fit for aim to establish a long-term energy supply rela-
renewables – the energy of the future.” tionship with Egypt and Israel. The MoU will
The dispatching of such a high-level EU del- remain in effect for three years to be renewed
egation underlines the significance of securing automatically for two successive three-year
energy supplies from the underexploited giant periods.
natural gas fields of the eastern Mediterranean Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Min-
as the bloc seeks to find alternative sources to eral Resources Tarek El-Molla said the deal is an
replace Russian natural gas. Russia constitutes important step to boost relations between the
nearly 45% of the EU’s gas imports in 2021, three countries and foster co-operation among
according to the International Energy Agency. members of EastMed, formed by Egypt, Pales-
The MoU commits the signatories to utilise tine, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France and
existing infrastructure to accelerate the export Israel in 2019 and headquartered in Cairo.™

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