Israel plans to increase gas exports to Egypt

The Israeli occupation cabinet approved a proposal to expand Israeli gas pipelines to Egypt to increase natural gas exports, with the aim of improving the welfare of Israelis.

The Ministry said, in a statement reported by local media, including the Globes economic website, that the proposal calls for building a new pipeline to Egypt, with an annual transport capacity of 6 billion cubic meters, extending over a length of 65 km.

The prospective land pipeline will serve as an infrastructure for exporting natural gas from Israel to Egypt, thus increasing options for exporting gas from Egypt to European countries in search of an alternative to Russian gas.

According to the site, “the new pipeline between Ramat Hovav-Ashalim-Nitsana) will be 65 kilometres long and allow an extra six billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas to be exported to Egypt annually. The extra gas will bring NIS 200 million revenue to Israel Natural Gas Lines annually, and hundreds of millions of shekels annually in revenues from royalties and taxes to the government.”

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Globes quoted Energy Minister, Israel Katz, as saying, “The current decision increases the potential for cooperation between Israel and Egypt in the field of natural gas in preparation for decisions on exports that will have to be made soon.”

“Cooperation between the countries will strengthen the economy, strengthen the well-being of the citizens of the State of Israel and strengthen regional stability – and I will continue to work for its expansion in the fields of natural gas, renewable energies, hydrogen and energy storage,” he added.

Egypt and Jordan are the main destinations for Israeli gas exports, through pipelines linked to both Arab countries, as Jordan uses it to secure its internal needs, while Egypt re-exports it abroad after liquefying it.

The Israeli fields produce about 28 billion cubic meters of gas annually, and about a third of it is exported to Egypt and Jordan, amid expectations of an increase in production in the coming years.