Monday, February 19, 2018

After exporting gas, Egypt to import gas from Israel worth $15 billion : What’s really happening !!

You read the headline right !!
Egypt is going to export gas worth USD 15 billion from Israel within the upcoming 10 years according to the Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Monday.
Monday afternoon, Egyptians and Arabs found out about this deal through PM Netanyahu’s social media accounts especially on Twitter as those accounts aired Bibi’s speech to the Israeli people translated into Arabic.
Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he welcomed the deal to export Israeli gas to Egypt describing it as a historic agreement. He also said that that “historical agreement” would bring billions to State’s treasury adding that money would be spent on education and medical service for Israeli citizens.
He also said that the gas agreement strengthened Israel’s security, economy and the regional relations.
“Today is a feast,” He said in the video.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Daily
Al Masry Al Youm Daily Front Page
"Israel announces that it exports gas to Egypt"


What is the deal?

Israeli Delek Drilling and Texas-based Noble Energy signed 10-year agreement to sell USD15 billion worth of natural gas from Tamar and Leviathan natural gas fields to little-known Egyptian Delphinus.
According to the agreement, Israel is going to sell 3 billion cubic meters a year to Egypt through Delphinus, which did not hear about it before in the country.

Despite several Media outlets have spoken like The Economist in April 2017 about the talks of that agreement, most of the public in Egypt only knew about it Monday afternoon.
Needless to say, it shocked them because just for the past few weeks El-Sisi and his media have repeatedly spoken about his achievement and success in accelerating the production of gigantic Zohr natural gas field.
Egyptian officials have repeatedly claimed that Zohr natural gas field will enable Egypt to be self-sufficient in the production of liquefied gas by the end 2018 or early 2019 yet now we find out that there is an Egyptian company that will import natural gas from Israel !!!!!

What is even more ridiculous is how the Egyptian officials in the ministry of oil and Natural gas Regulatory authority claimed that they did not know anything about the agreement !!!
Already that agreement needs to be approved by the two governments in order to be in effect.
In 2017, Egypt passed a new Natural gas law that allows the private sector to import natural gas.
Some officials in Egypt as well some people say that that natural gas from Israel is not imported for consumers in the country but rather to be liquefied and exported once again to Europe.
Interestingly,
Noble Energy said in its press release issued on Monday about the agreement that the Israeli gas “is anticipated to supply industrial and petrochemical customers as future power generation in Egypt”.

What is Delphinus?

Little was known in the media about Egyptian Delphinus before that announcement. We all knew on Monday that it is an Egyptian private sector company. We know that is head by a man called Alaa Arafa, of Arafa Holding , the famous textile company that owns Concrete for men's wear.

1958-Born Alaa Arafa graduated originally as a doctor from the Faculty of medicine in Ain Shams University but it seems that he was attracted to the family's business in textile that goes back to the 1940s than helping in curing people.

 Alaa Arafa's father was said to be a personal friend to Hosni Mubarak as he was also an air fighter pilot like him and that's helped to expand the family business in textile in the past 20 years. He was from the first businessmen to join Qiz agreement allowing him to have business with Israel in order to export to Europe and the States.

Alaa Arafa is also said to be the second Hussein Salem when it comes to oil and gas investements with Israel

In January 2016, Egypt’s PM Sharif Ismail announced that permits would not be longer issued to companies importing gas from Israel to Egypt despite Leviathan and Tamar natural gas fields signed letters of intent with Delphinus in December 2015.

In August 2017, London-based New Arab News website published a report saying that Shell was going to buy Israeli gas from Tamar and Leviathan for Egypt. It seems that deal did not work and Delphinus replaced Shell.

I think we know that the Israeli government has approved the agreement from that speech Bibi said. The Egyptian government claims that it knows nothing about the deal despite the fact we know it does unofficially.
Anything related to Israel must pass through the Egyptian government in Egypt.

I have the feeling that Bibi wanted to use that deal to score some supports in Israel after his corruption scandal throwing the Sisi’s administration back to Cairo to the bus at a very critical time.
Already I do not understand how the current Egyptian administration is not using the need of Israel to export liquid gas to Europe and score political gains for example like forcing Bibi’s administration to return to the negotiations table or to suspend the expansion of the illegal settlements in the West bank !!
This is the least the current Egyptian administration can do if it is sincere and committed to the Palestinian cause which is directly connected to the Egyptian National security.
Needless to say, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said it loud during the inauguration during Egypt’s gigantic Zohr gas field that he was not  a-big-mouth politician. I wish he were
I wonder if his administration knows that there is a dispute between Lebanon and Israel over those particular natural gas fields in East Mediterranean.

Mada Misr quoted experts in an early report about the deal that actually Israel used that agreement to play a game with the Egyptian government.
Accordingly, Israel dropped the 2017-USD 2 billion compensation case against the Egyptian government represented in the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation “EGPG” and  Egyptian Natural Gas company “EGAS”  after the cancellation of the deal to export natural gas to Israel in April 2012.
Amazingly I was writing a post about the latest developments in the cases of Abdel Moneim Abou El-Fotouh and Hisham Geneina but Bibi’s announcement was like another slap in the face on Monday.

4 comments:

  1. What is going on?
    Why they support the Enemy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr Youssef, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel normalizing the relation between the two nations, during the last 39 years Egypt was spared wars with what you like to call enemy & even though Egyptian standard of living is declining without the cost of unnecessary wars. There is duplicity in Egyptian policy toward Israel....the public one that is acting in what is called cold peace & what is stirred by papers as Israel is the mortal enemy.
      I'm not sure if Egypt can afford a return to pre treaty situation.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt–Israel_Peace_Treaty

      Delete
  2. Israel Is the Enemy because it occupy an Arab and Muslim Country (Palestine). It's occupation is a hell for our
    Palestinians brothers and sisters.
    YOU can not finance your enemy...it is danger.

    Dr. YOUSSEF





    ReplyDelete
  3. I believe it is all about treaty between two countries. It is important to fulfill natural gas demands in Israel.

    ReplyDelete

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