Israel signs deal with Egyptian company to supply a minimum of 5 million cubic meters of natural gas over the next three years.

Avital Lahav 10.19.14

A deal signed between the Israeli Tamar gas reservoir and Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings will soon bring to the resumption of natural gas flow Israel and Egypt. The gas flow from Egypt to Israel was halted two and a half years ago, after terror organizations operating in the Sinai Peninsula repeatedly targeted the pipe with explosives.

Since then, the Tamar reservoir started operating and the signed agreement includes the export of up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas surplus from Israel to private industrial customers in Egypt.

The supply of gas will be on a regular basis, and will be supplied after meeting the needs of Israeli customers, but the partners agreed to supply a minimum of five million cubic meters over three years.

This deal joins contracts other companies sharing Israel’s gas reservoirs have signed with Middle Eastern clients, including the Palestinian Authority, as well as to agreements to sell Israeli gas to the liquefaction plants of Union Fenosa and British Gas in Egypt, and an agreement with the Jordanian National Electric Power Company.

The deal was signed thanks to the apparent improvement of the Egyptian military control of Sinai and the decrease in terrorist activity in the peninsula.

The improvement in security alongside the fact that the pipeline is already built and there is no need to invest money in its construction, made the agreement worthwhile despite the still-existing risk the pipeline will be a target for terrorist attacks.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4581632,00.html