Israel's NewMed Energy said the Leviathan gasfield that supplies Egypt and Jordan will resume operations on Wednesday after being shut down for nearly two weeks during the war with Iran.
Two of Israel's three gasfields – Leviathan and Karish – have been shut since June 13, when the country began attacking Iran. Israeli officials said this was a precautionary measure taken in anticipation of an Iranian retaliation. Gas supplies to Egypt and Jordan were halted to prioritise domestic consumption.
Following the Israeli announcement, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the supply of natural gas to the country's factories would be restored from Friday morning.
He welcomed the ceasefire between Iran and Israel and said Egypt hoped it would continue.
US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran from Tuesday that appeared to be holding.
Israel's Energy Ministry said that after a security assessment, the larger Leviathan field and smaller Karish would reopen. This would lead to the resumption of gas exports, a rise in state tax revenue and greater flexibility in managing the electricity and industrial sectors.
Leviathan produces 12 billion cubic metres of gas per year for sale to Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Israeli gas accounts for about 15-20 per cent of Egypt’s consumption, data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative shows.
To counter the unexpected drop in supplies, Egypt arranged to use three floating regasification units, two in the Red Sea and one in the Mediterranean, sources told The National last week. These receive shipments of liquefied natural gas, regasify it and then pump it through the national power grid.
Israel had resumed lower-volume gas supplies to Egypt on Thursday last week, the sources said. But the supplies halted again on Sunday.
