24.08.10 Egypt Politics and Security Egypt might have to buy back gas from Israel at seven times the price

According to the Egyptian press, the Egyptian government, in view of power shortages caused by insufficient domestic gas supply to power stations, is contemplating the possibility of re-purchasing around 1.5 billion m³ of natural gas it supplied to Israel.

In July 2005, the Egyptian petroleum and mineral resources minister Sameh Fahmy and the Israeli infrastructure minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer signed a $2.5 billion gas deal to supply the Israeli Electric Corporation with 1.7 billion m³ per year.

According to inside sources the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum would have to repurchase Egyptian gas back from Israel for around $14 billion, originally sold to Tel Aviv for $2 billion.

Source: Arab Monitor

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.