Russia At War With Ukraine, Egypt And Israel Agree To Increase Gas Supply To EU

Illustration of a tanker crossing the Suez Canal, Egypt. (Wikimedia Commons/Panoramio/patano)

JAKARTA - Egypt and Israel signed an agreement with the European Union to increase the sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the group's alliance countries, to reduce dependence on Russia amid the Ukraine conflict.

The deal reached today would see Israel send more gas through Egypt, which has the facilities to liquefy it for export by sea, said European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen.

"A very special moment," von der Leyen said in a joint press conference with the energy ministers of Egypt and Israel, reported Daily Sabah June 15.

"I very much welcome the signing of this historic agreement," he continued.

Last year, the European Union imported about 40 percent of its gas from Russia, a condition that made it difficult for them to sanction Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Israeli gas will be carried by pipeline to Egypt's LNG terminal in the Mediterranean, before being transported by tanker to European shores.

Israel has two operational gas fields off the Mediterranean coast, which contain about 690 billion cubic meters (bcm) of combined natural gas, with a third offshore rig in the works. It has signed gas export agreements with neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Meanwhile, Egypt's sprawling natural gas facilities in the Mediterranean have been largely inactive since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's government.

In recent years, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government has rehabilitated and modernized the facility. In 2018, Egypt signed a $15 billion deal with Israeli company Delek Drilling and its US partner, Noble Energy, to transport natural gas there.