Egypt is considering exporting gas to Lebanon using an offshore pipeline, Egyptian Petrol Minister Tarek El Molla told Al-Arabiya in an interview published Monday.
“Unfortunately, the pipeline for importing Egyptian gas to Lebanon passes through Syria. The current circumstances in Syria mean we cannot deliver gas,” Molla said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland.
“We are discussing exporting gas via the sea,” he added.
The Arab Gas Pipeline was commissioned in 2003 to carry natural gas from Egypt to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Egypt currently only exports gas to Jordan via this pipeline.
Former Energy Minister Nada Boustani said last year that she was working on building cooperation between Lebanon and Egypt in the oil and gas sector, particularly by reactivating the pipeline.
The north African country produces 198 million cubic meters of gas per day, Molla told Al-Arabiya, 28 million of which is exported.
Drilling the first exploratory wells for oil and gas exploration in Lebanon’s territorial waters was meant to begin in late 2019 but was held up by the delayed arrival of a drillship.
In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks with a consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
The deadline for the second licensing round is April 30.
The Daily Star
27/01/2020
