By Marwa Yahya
Egypt has been expanding the scope of exporting energy, especially natural gas and electricity, to accelerate the implementation of its vision for turning into a regional and international energy hub, according to Egyptian experts.
Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon have agreed on Sept. 8 to pipe the Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria to solve the energy crisis in Lebanon.
"Delivering natural gas to Lebanon was an expectation that has been planned for a long time," said Osamah Kamal, a former Egyptian petroleum minister.
He stressed that delivering Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon is very beneficial for achieving integration among the regional countries.
Egypt has increased its gas exports following re-operating Damietta port station for liquidating and exporting gas in February after an eight-year hiatus, from which Egypt has exported nearly 17 vessels of liquidated gas to the Asian and European markets since July.
Egypt's production capacity of natural gas per day reaches seven billion cubic feet, according to official statistics.
"Egypt is ambitious to increase the natural gas exports. It signed deals with several countries such as Israel and Cyprus to import gas from Egypt, or liquidate gas in our stations ahead of re-exporting it to Europe," Kamal added.
He explained that Cyprus owns rich gas reserves but it couldn't benefit from it, and the only solution is to connect the Cypriot gas with the Egyptian network of liquidation for either re-exporting it to Europe or for local consumption in Egypt.
The Egyptian-Cypriot deal is beneficial for both sides as Cyprus wouldn't have to build infrastructure for exploring and liquidating gas, while Egypt will make more gains by operating its liquidation stations.
The former minister highlighted that the integration among the regional countries will add political calm, and the countries with common economic interests will work on preventing many disputes.
"Egypt has taken major steps for turning into a regional energy hub, such as establishing the East Mediterranean Gas Forum that includes ten important countries," Kamal said, adding that exporting gas and electricity gives greater weight to Egypt, enhances its global position and attracts investments.
Meanwhile, Medhat Youssef, former chairman of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, noted that delivering gas to Lebanon is a very positive step, given the economic and social sufferings of the Lebanese people.
He agreed that liquidating the Cypriot gas in Egypt will bring economic revenues for both countries and pave the way for more European investments in Egypt.
"Egypt is the only country in the eastern Mediterranean that is able to circulate gas among the regional countries," Youssef said.
On Sept. 4, the energy ministers of Cyprus and Egypt signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the electricity interconnection between the two countries.
"Egypt is keen on extending electricity grid to Cyprus, Greece and eventually to other European countries," said Ayman Hamzah, spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity.
Hamzah told Xinhua that "Egypt has been already exporting electricity to Jordan, Sudan and Libya."
He added Egypt-Jordan-Iraq tripartite committee has been recently formed to meet Iraq's needs of electricity, adding that Egypt's reserve of electricity exceeds 25 percent of the production.
The Ministry of Electricity has made great efforts on advancing the electricity networks with other countries, Hamzah said, adding that "exporting Egyptian electricity to the neighboring countries is very significant for enhancing the relations between Egypt and those countries."
Editor: Kelly
