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EU signs gas deal with Egypt, Israel to

secure long-term supplies

SUPPLY THE European Union has signed a memoran- encourage European companies to invest in nat-
dum of understanding (MoU) with Egypt and ural gas exploration and production in Israel and
Israel with the aim of securing the stable delivery Egypt.
of natural gas to the bloc based on the principle Existing infrastructure between the two
of market-oriented pricing. countries consists of undersea pipelines connect-
“This is a historic day for the EU’s energy ing natural gas production from two offshore
engagement & energy security: signing the MoU Israeli fields to the Egyptian natural gas grid. This
with Egypt and Israel, two reliable, strategic part- enables liquefied natural gas (LNG) production
ners,” tweeted Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner at Idku and Damietta LNG plants in Egypt with
for Energy, following the signing on June 15. a total production capacity of 12mn tonnes per
The MoU was signed between the ministers year (tpy).
of energy of Egypt and Israel in the presence of After achieving self-sufficiency in natural gas
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Euro- in 2018, Egypt is looking to become a regional
pean Commission. “With this agreement, we energy hub by strengthening regional co-op-
will work on the stable delivery of natural gas to eration and developing new discoveries. The
the EU from the East Mediterranean region,” she EU hopes to secure a growing share of Egypt’s
tweeted shortly after the ministerial meeting of LNG exports helping the country to fulfil that
the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EastMed), ambition.
where the deal was reached. “This will contribute By taking the initiative to bring all sides to the
to our EU energy security, and we are building table to sign the MoU, the EU has made clear its
infrastructure fit for renewables – the energy of aim to establish a long-term energy supply rela-
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.™
and shipment of natural gas to the EU and

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