Egypt cancels natural gas deal with Israel

[azurnoir]

Egypt's national gas company EGAS announced Sunday that it will be cancelling its natural gas supply deal with Israel.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the pipeline, said the Egyptian companies involved had notified EMG they were "terminating the gas and purchase agreement".

<snip>

Sources close to EMG said in response, "Egypt does not understand what it is doing. This move will bring back the country - politically and economically – by 30 years. This is a breach of the peace agreement with Israel."

A deal was reached in 2005 between the Israeli and Egyptian governments as part of a political agreement according to which Cairo undertook to allocate 7 billion cubic meters (BCM) of Egyptian gas to the Israeli market for 20 years, with an option to double the supply.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-cancels-natural-gas-deal-with-israel-1.425883

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Israel threatens to attack Iran,

Repeat and rinse.

Did Bibi REALLY think there would be no reaction elsewhere?

[pelsar]

2. can we assume you know little about the regional politics?

given what you just wrote, i believe a resounding yes might be in order

[teddy51]

3. And whats your snarky point? You going to tell us that your the resident expert on Israel and

the Middle East?

[pelsar]

4. its all relative....but

anybody who thinks egypt scrapping the oil deal with israel has anything to do with the iran and israel clearly has no idea what they're talking about.....

its probably considered a valid point for freshmen during their first year when they believe the world revolves around simplistic ideology....but for those who actually decide to study and learn about the geo politics of the region will only be embarrassed at such naivety.

if your actually interested, you might start with why egypt does not want iran to have nukes..nor does saudi arabia and would like to see israel attack iran for that very reason.....but if your not, then feel free to ignore what i just wrote.

[azurnoir]

5. as much as it almost pains me

I agree

[bemildred]

6. Me too, I was waiting until my pulse went back down,

so I could think how to put it, but you solved the problem for me.

[azurnoir]

8. glad I could help

and kudo's on your sig line too BTW

[pelsar]

9. you know you both (mildred) have just ruined my day...and possibly my family life

I now have to take out my aggression on my kids (one who has a gun) or my wife and this is not a good thing

[azurnoir]

13. I ahve a feeling your wife

can likely hold her own quite well after all she's still your wife

[bemildred]

14. Just make sure they are alone, that's what I do.

Otherwise they gang up on you. Once they lose their fear of you, it's all over.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Heard something on McLaughlin Group today

Mort Zuckerman said that Egypt imports about 50% of its food, and there is only enough foreign exchange to last for another two or three months, and that there will be starvation. Clearly, not selling natural gas to Israel would make that situation even worse. I wonder if the Egyptian people will need another Arab Spring before they get a leadership that looks out for them instead of an ideology?

[aranthus]

10. Why can't they sell the gas to someone else, and for more than they could sell to Israel? n/t

[customerserviceguy]

18. Is Israel not paying market price?

Besides, there are transportation costs if they were to sell it to anyone that they do not adjoin (to transport by pipeline). I would suppose that Libya has plenty of its own, and Sudan can't really afford it.

[shira]

11. It'll be interesting to see how all the Israel critics react to this one...

Egypt is reneging on the peace agreement with Israel.

The USA should therefore cancel its aid to Egypt, which is based on that peace agreement.

This also has ramifications for Israel making peace with the rest of the Arab world, including the Palestinians. If 'the world' doesn't have Israel's "back" on this one, then "the world" has zero credibility pressuring Israel into making deals their peace partners can easily renege on.

And then there's Jimmy Carter. This is his deal blowing up...

[azurnoir]

12. the deal that is being canceled was made in 2005

when was Carters apparently maligned treaty signed again?

[Scurrilous]

15. Egypt offers to sell gas to Israel at new price

Senior Egyptian minister says Israel was notified five times that it wasn't meeting its financial obligations; Israeli, Egyptian leaders stress cancelation of gas deal is not result of political dispute.

<snip>

"A senior Egyptian minister said Monday that Israel is welcome to negotiate a new contract with Egypt at a new price, after the latter canceled its 20-year gas deal over a reported business dispute.

"Egypt has no objections to reach a new contract with new conditions and new prices," Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga said Monday.

Egypt announced Sunday that it has canceled the contract with Israel since it did not meet the conditions of the deal signed in 2005.

Abul-Naga said that the contract was a business deal, and that the other side was notified five times for not meeting its financial obligations, and that the last chance for payment was on March 31.

Earlier Monday, both Israeli and Egyptian leaders stressed that the cancellation of the gas deal between the two countries was not motivated by political developments, but rather was a business dispute between two private countries."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-offers-to-sell-gas-to-israel-at-new-price-1.426094

[oberliner]

16. Glad to hear Egypt is still on board

Hopefully fears of breaking any treaties or agreements will not materialize.

[aranthus]

17. Duh. It was always about the money.

Not that I blame Egypt. The price of gas went up a lot more than was envisioned 30 years ago. They were losing money selling to Israel at the treaty price.