Egyptian gas pipeline hit by saboteurs again

A huge blast has rocked Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula after unknown saboteurs bombed the pipeline feeding natural gas from Egypt to Jordan and Israel. This is the fourth time in six months that the pipeline has been attacked. According to the official Egyptian news agency, the attack resulted in a huge fire near the natural gas terminal in El-Arish, in the North Sinai Governorate.

A week ago, the pipeline was subject to a similar attack; no group of individuals have claimed responsibility. The Egyptian authorities are continuing to search for the perpetrators of this attack which will cause huge financial losses.

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Critics complain that Egypt’s natural gas is sold to Israel at below the market rate. The head of GASCO, the company operating Egyptian natural gas pipelines in the north of Sinai, said that pumping gas to Jordan and Israel will be resumed by the end of this week. He added that Egypt has the right to adjust the prices of natural gas sold to Israel, which receives about 40 percent of its gas needs from Egypt as per an agreement based on the peace treaty signed by the two countries in 1979. Egyptian gas accounts for around 8o percent of the needs of Jordan’s power stations.