Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla held a joint discussion with each of the European Union’s Energy and Climate Commissioner Kadri Simson and Israel Katz, the Israeli Energy Minister, in the presence of Osama Mubarez, Secretary General of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum.
The three parties reviewed the progress of work on the tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between them last June in Cairo under the umbrella of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum to transport gas to Europe using the Egyptian infrastructure and facilities.
During the meeting, working groups formed to follow up on the implementation of the MoU reviewed the preparation of a presentation to the concerned ministers.
Minister El-Molla stated that the meeting aims to support efforts to implement the MoU that achieves economic benefit and feasibility and interest of all parties, stressing the importance of translating this cooperation into tangible results for the peoples.
He expressed his aspiration to discuss developments regarding the MoU at the next ministerial meeting of the forum.
Simson expressed the European Union’s pride in the partnership with Egypt and Israel as reliable partners in the field of energy through long-term cooperation, and said that the EU is working to diversify sources of energy supplies and accelerate pumping investments in the natural gas field.
For his part, the Israeli Minister of Energy stated that Egypt is a pioneer in the field of natural gas, stressing the importance of the MoU to support cooperation in supplying gas to Europe.
He highlighted the importance of the forum in working to provide larger quantities of gas from the eastern Mediterranean, and stressed his country’s interest in attracting more investments through the new international bidding in Israel to search for gas and oil.
