Energy Minister Karin Elharrar (Yesh Atid) spoke to her Egyptian counterpart, Tariq El Molla, on Monday to discuss future plans for Israeli gas to be liquefied at Egyptian natural-gas liquefaction plants for re-exportation, they said in a joint statement.
During their phone conversation, they discussed ongoing cooperation in the field of natural gas and future plans to strengthen it within the framework of the East Mediterranean Gas Form (EMGF).
The EMGF is an intergovernmental organization concerned with natural-gas affairs. It serves to reinforce cooperation among its member states and to create a regional gas market that will optimize resource development and improve trade ties with competitive prices.
One future initiative between Israel and Egypt would see Israel’s natural gas be liquefied in Egyptian factories and then re-exported for use.
Israel has been exporting natural gas to Egypt since January 2020 in what was seen as a historic step in the working relationship between the two countries.
El Molla visited Israel this February and toured the Leviathan natural-gas rig with former energy minister Yuval Steinitz.
Israel is part of the Cairo-based EMGF, along with Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Elharrar said Egypt is an important partner for Israel in all fields, MENAFN reported.
“As a resident of the Middle East, I prefer Egypt to use gas rather than coal,” Army Radio quoted her as saying. “Israel wins twice – in economic gain and in the fact that there will be less pollution in the region.”
Egypt has relied on coal, considered to be the worst of the fossil fuels, as one of its major energy sources for years. However, Cairo has moved away from it recently, and its plan to build a coal-fired plant, which would have been the second-largest of its kind in the world, was indefinitely postponed in April 2020.
When burned efficiently, natural gas can generate both heat and electricity while emitting less waste and toxins than other fossil and biomass fuels. However, when not done efficiently, it generates a carbon footprint similar to other fossil fuels and is one of the major causes of climate change today, according to a US Energy Information Administration report.
“Many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets, and global sea level,” a newly released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.