Settlement of Egypt-Israel natural gas arbitration getting closer: Israeli Energy Minister

Mohamed Samir
1 Min Read

The international arbitration case between Egypt and Israel over natural gas trading could be resolved in the upcoming months, Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday.

Steinitz told Reuters that a final understanding is already established, and what’s left is the approval of the Israeli electric authority and maybe also of someone on the Egyptian side.

In December 2015, the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva issued a ruling requiring the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the General Petroleum Corporation to pay a compensation to the East Mediterranean Gas Company for $288m and $1.7bn to the Israel Electricity Company, after Egypt suspended gas exports to Israel in April 2012.

In 2018, two 10-year agreements worth $15bn to export Israeli natural gas to Egypt were signed. The agreements between Delek Drilling and Noble Energy—the operators of Israel’s largest natural gas fields Tamar and Leviathan—and the Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings, will supply Egypt with 7bn cubic metres of gas annually.

A petroleum sector source told Daily News Egypt that that the settlement of the arbitration cases filed by the Israeli side against Egypt was done before the gas export agreement from Delek and Noble was sealed. 

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Mohamed Samir Khedr is an economic and political journalist, analyst, and editor specializing in geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. For the past decade, he has covered Egypt's and the MENA region's financial, business, and geopolitical updates. Currently, he is the Executive Editor of the Daily News Egypt, where he leads a team of journalists in producing high-quality, in-depth reporting and analysis on the region's most pressing issues. His work has been featured in leading international publications. Samir is a highly respected expert on the Middle East and Africa, and his insights are regularly sought by policymakers, academics, and business leaders. He is a passionate advocate for independent journalism and a strong believer in the power of storytelling to inform and inspire. Twitter: https://twitter.com/Moh_S_Khedr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-samir-khedr/