The perils of Egypt’s dependence on gas imports were painfully exposed this week, when Israel halted gas exports on the morning of 13 June in anticipation of Iran’s response to its airstrikes (MEES, 13 June). Egypt’s gas balances were already stretched amid delays in installing two new floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), and Cairo has scrambled to secure additional fuel oil supplies for later this summer in order to build up strategic reserves.
Although the 1.0bn cfd Tamar gas field remains Israel’s only currently operational gas field, Israel on 19 June restarted exports to both Egypt and Jordan, albeit at modest levels, in a bid to help alleviate its neighbors’ gas shortages (MEES, 20 June). (CONTINUED - 1591 WORDS)
