Lebanon signed a preliminary agreement with Egypt on Monday to import natural gas to ease electricity shortages and reduce its reliance on high-cost fuel oil imports, officials said.
Lebanese Energy Minister Joe Saddi signed the agreement with his Egyptian counterpart Karim Badawi during his visit to Beirut.
The deal will allow Lebanon to import natural gas from Egypt when volumes “become available”, Mr Saddi said.
Egypt, an important gas producer in the Eastern Mediterranean, has experienced a domestic production decline in recent years, despite big discoveries such as the Zohr gasfield.
To meet its domestic requirements, Cairo signed a $35 billion agreement with Israel this month to import gas from the latter’s offshore Leviathan field.
Egypt’s gas production is forecast to slide to 43 billion cubic metres this year, down from 49 bcm last year and significantly lower than its peak of 70 bcm, according to energy consultancy Rystad.
However, Mr Saddi remained upbeat about the prospects of importing Egyptian gas. Beirut would rehabilitate a defunct part of the Arab Gas pipeline that connects Egypt to Jordan’s Aqaba and reaches Lebanon through northern Syria.
“We received an assessment regard
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