26.08.10 Egypt Politics and Security
UPDATE: Egypt says it has no intentions of re-purchasing gas back from Israel
The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has denied reports that the government intends to re-purchase 1.5 billion m³ of
natural gas back from Israel in order to meet the country's electricity deficit.
"Egypt doesn't need to import natural gas. Egypt's national gas production is
more
than sufficient to cover the needs of government sectors," said, the head of EGAS, Mohammad Lateef .
According to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation , 30 billion m³ of natural gas was exported to Israel via an offshore pipeline during the 2008/09 fiscal year, totaling around
$90
million in revenues. Despite the electricity shortages, energy industry
officials
continue to maintain that Egypt will not be buying back gas from Israel.
"We will not re-import gas from Israel since this would be technically impossible," added, the Egyptian Natural Gas Company chairman, Khaled Abd al-Badie.
Source: Al Masry Al Youm
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