Israel's Tamar group looks to sell gas to Egypt via EMG pipeline
JERUSALEM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The partners in Israel's offshore Tamar gas field said on Sunday they are negotiating the sale of at least 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas over three years to private customers in Egypt via an old pipeline.
The supplies would pass through an underwater pipeline constructed nearly a decade ago by East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that oversaw a now-defunct Egyptian-Israeli natural gas deal.
Egypt had been selling gas to Israel in a 20-year agreement, but the deal collapsed in 2012 after months of attacks on the pipeline by militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. It has since been out of commission and EMG is suing the government of Egypt for damages.
Recent offshore discoveries such as Tamar, with an estimated 280 bcm of gas, and Leviathan, which is more than twice as big, have turned previously import-dependent Israel into a potential energy exporter. Egypt has been slow in developing its own sizable gas resources and now faces an energy crisis.
The Tamar consortium, led by Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group, said in a statement they signed a letter of intent to negotiate with Dolphinus Holdings, a firm that represents non-governmental, industrial and commercial consumers in Egypt.
Any deal would be subject to various approvals in Israel, Egypt and from EMG.
