Lebanon, Egypt review energy ties: press
The Lebanese government said October 5 it was vetting offers of assistance from Egypt to help address the nation’s lingering energy crisis, the Reuters news service reported.
A September agreement calls for Egyptian natural gas deliveries to Lebanon through a pipeline that passes through Jordan and Syria. Lebanese energy minister Walid Fayad said his Egyptian counterpart agreed during a meeting to do more than initially planned.
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Egypt, Fayad said, said it would help by possibly “offering extra quantities of gas,” he told Reuters. “We will have another discussion on this.”
All parties to the September agreement are connected to the 1,200-km Arab Gas pipeline from Egypt, one of the region’s major gas producers.
Lebanon has been in a state of political crisis at least since a major blast at the port of Beirut left more than 200 people dead in August 2020. In a country with aging energy infrastructure, the political crisis has only compounded the energy woes.
The bilateral discussion followed last week’s meeting between Jordanian prime minister Bishr Khasawneh and his Lebanese counterpart, Najib Mikati, to review the energy crisis in Lebanon.
The Hezbollah group in Lebanon has said it would help facilitate fuel shipments from Iran to Lebanon to help address shortfalls. Western powers, however, have increased their sanctions pressure on Hezbollah, considered a regional proxy for Iran.