Egyptian natural gas supplier EMG has told its Israeli customers that due to a leak on the Egyptian side, the supply of natural gas will not resume today.
Yesterday, Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL) reported that East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) will resume natural gas deliveries to Israel today. Ampal, which owns 12.5% of EMG, had previously announced five postponements in the resumption of gas deliveries.
In yesterday's announcement, Ampal did not set an exact time for the resumption of gas deliveries.
An Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) spokesman said today, "EMG yesterday notified IEC that gas deliveries would resume today. However, so far no gas has arrived, and we've heard nothing else from them. The gas is not flowing."
Last week, London-based Arabic daily "A Sharq Al Awsat" reported that Egyptian experts want to raise the price of natural gas sold to Israel. They said that the gas costs the country a lot, and that it was a waste for the Egyptian people. The report claimed that Egypt was losing $9 million a day on its gas exports because of the low price."
Former Egyptian ambassador Ibrahim Yusri, one of the men behind the demand, said that the Egyptian Supreme Court had already ruled that the price of gas could be revised to the global price, and said that the Egyptian people would see $1 billion from an update.
"A Sharq Al Awsat" said that it was convenient for Egypt to raise the price of gas and to reopen the contract with Israel, because Israel has no immediate alternative to Egyptian gas. EMG supplies 40% of Israel's natural gas needs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011