Egypt to provide Lebanon with natural gas within a few weeks – minister

Egypt plans to start supplying Lebanon with natural gas soon as part of a plan agreed by Cairo, Beirut, Amman, and Damascus to ease a crippling power crisis, said by Egyptian and Lebanese ministers on Tuesday.

Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad and Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla made their remarks after two-day talks in Cairo.

“The procedures necessary to supply Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon are due to be completed within the coming few weeks,” Minister el-Molla said at a press conference.

Tuesday’s announcement came nearly a month after Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan agreed during a meeting in Amman on a crisis relief roadmap as part of a U.S.-backed effort to address Lebanon’s power shortages using Egyptian gas via an Arab pipeline established some 20 years ago.

Minister el-Molla said the two-day consultations in Cairo aimed to outlining a plan for supplying Lebanon with Egyptian gas, including all technical, commercial, and contractual aspects.

“The likelihood of exporting additional amounts of [Egyptian] gas, whether in the long or short terms, was also discussed,” Minister Fayad stated, without explaining further.