Lebanon refutes Israeli claims: Gas must be Egyptian as per agreement
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The Lebanese Ministry of Energy confirms that talks of Israeli gas being supplied to Lebanon are false by all means.
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Al-Zahrani power station near Saida, southern Lebanon, on December 18, 2021 (AFP)
On Sunday, the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water denied the claims of Israeli Channel 12 that Washington agreed to supply Israeli gas to Lebanon and slams them as completely false.
In a statement, the Ministry confirmed that the gas supply agreement implemented between the Lebanese government and the Egyptian government clearly and explicitly states that the gas should come from Egypt, knowing that the latter owns large quantities of it and consumes more than a hundred times the amount it intends to supply Lebanon with.
The statement added that Egypt will supply Lebanon with a small part of its production and market size, and this gas will pass through neighboring Jordan, and then to Homs, Syria, from which it will reach Deir Ammar station in the north in order to supply additional electricity to the Lebanese citizens.
The Ministry had earlier confirmed in December that repairs on a gas pipeline in northern Lebanon were scheduled to be completed by the end of February, enabling the start of gas imports from Egypt.
Days ago, the US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea conveyed a message from the US Department of Treasury to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati reassuring the latter's concerns about regional power deals that the United States "helped facilitate and encourage" between Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, stressing that there should be no concerns over the Caesar Act the US itself imposed on the region.
Shea's words came following her visit to the Grand Serail in Beirut.
