A four-way ministerial meeting of the Arab Gas Pipeline countries (Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon) resulted in an agreement to deliver Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria, and an action plan and timetable for its implementation. The meeting, hosted by Jordan on Wednesday, brought together the kingdom's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla, Syria's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Bassam Tohme and Lebanon's Minister of Energy and Water Raymond Ghajar. Zawati told reporters that the meeting mainly aimed to cooperate in the field of re-exporting Egyptian natural gas to the Lebanon using the Arab Gas Pipeline via Jordan and Syria. Jordan, under the directives of King Abdullah II, will exert every possible effort to help the Lebanese people overcome the ongoing energy crisis, she underlined. The ministers confirmed that another meeting would be held during the coming period to discuss the issue of supplying Lebanon with electricity, as well as the costs of revamping the infrastructure of the gas line. The four countries will review the agreements within three weeks and assess the infrastructure and its readiness to pump gas back to Lebanon, the ministers said. Zawati said that a meeting was mainly devoted to cooperation in the field of re-exporting Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon via Jordanian and Syrian territories through the AGP. She stated that the meeting stems from the belief that cooperation between the Arab Gas Pipeline countries will be an effective and influential step in supporting strategic projects and promoting common interests, which would reflect positively on economic and social development in these countries. On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, Zawati said that several technical meetings were held to discuss the infrastructure needed to deliver the gas across each country and the necessary technical requirements, agreeing ultimately to form a team to devise a clear action plan and a timetable for the delivery of gas to Lebanon within a specific timeframe to be submitted for the approval of the parties involved. El-Molla said that Egypt is working under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to leverage all the capacities to offer assistance to the brotherly Lebanese people and join hands with them to overcome the energy crisis and the challenges the country is facing. Egypt, he underlined, is working swiftly to coordinate the delivery of gas to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria, stemming from its commitment to alleviating the burdens of the Lebanese people and contributing to Lebanon's support and stability. For his part, Tohme said that the Arab Gas Pipeline project is one of the most important joint Arab cooperation projects, which was started in 2003. "Under the directives of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to help Lebanese people overcome the difficulties they are facing in the field of energy, we will exert every possible effort for the success of the transport of Egyptian gas or Jordanian electricity to Lebanon for the good and interest of our brotherly Arab countries," said Tohme. The Syrian minister underlined that the implementation of the action plan "will be monitored through technical meetings within the Syrian territory, so that the infrastructure is entirely ready to receive Egyptian gas and deliver it to Lebanon". Tohme confirmed the readiness of the gas network in the Syrian territories, although some sites need to be repaired due to damage caused by terrorist acts. Meanwhile, Ghajar referred to negotiations with the World Bank to finance the import of Egyptian gas, stressing Lebanon's need for about 600 million cubic meters annually. Ghajar said that this cooperation would have another future agreement, which is to draw electrical energy from Jordan, whose prices may be low compared to the prices of power generation in Lebanon. When the ministers met with Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh, the latter confirmed the many areas of cooperation between Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon to achieve the common interests of these countries. The AGP extends from the Egyptian city of Arish to the Syrian city of Homs, with a length of 320 kilometers and a diameter of 36 inches, as the export of Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon via Jordan began in November 2009 until it stopped in 2011. — Agencies
