Energy Minister Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart announce start of natural gas flow from Israel to Egypt • 85 billion cubic meters will be supplied over 15 years • Profit: $ 750 million per year

• Leviathan rig. Historical Day // Archive Photo: Noble Energy

Historical Day: Israel began exporting gas to Egypt. The gas is flowed from a whale reservoir, which has only recently begun full activity.
According to the deal with the Egyptian dolphins company, the partner companies in the Leviathan reservoir - Noble Energy, Drilling Fuel and Ranio - and the Tamar reservoir will supply Egypt with 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas over 15 years.

That's about a tenth of Tamar's gas volume and less than 10% of the whale's gas volume. The deal is estimated at $ 15 billion to be spread over a decade. The state is expected to enjoy about half of its revenue, which is $ 750 million a year. The gas will be flowed through the GNP pipeline (Israel's gas routes to Israel) to the KZA gas terminal in Ashkelon, and through the EMG pipeline to the Egyptian gas network.

Israel and Egypt's energy ministers, Yuval Steinitz and Tarek al-Mula, issued a joint announcement yesterday to begin the flow of natural gas between the two countries. The statement reads, "This is an important development that will serve the economic interests of both parties. This move will also allow Israel to export some of its natural gas to Europe through Egypt's gas liquefaction facilities and promote Egypt's status as a regional gas market."

The two ministers presented the progress achieved during a meeting of the Middle East Gas Forum in Cairo yesterday. During the conference, the energy ministers of Israel, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and the PA are expected to approve the transformation of the forum into a regional organization.

Yossi Abu, CEO of Delek Drillings, as stated in the Leviathan Database, was in charge of conducting negotiations with Egypt. "On such a historic day that deepens and strengthens the strategic relationship between Israel and Egypt, we are blessed to have lived and existed," says Abu.

"The flow of natural gas from Egypt to Egypt strengthens the region's stability and marks a new era in Israel's status in the regional energy economy. Today, it is clear that without the stability and certainty created by the gas outline, it could not happen.

The cold peace is heating up

The export to Egypt, which joins the export of gas to Jordan where Israel began two weeks ago, also carries with it a reassuring geopolitical line. "Thanks to the 'cold' natural gas peace with the Arab states can be very hot," says Israel Today "Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eitan Dangot, former Coordinator of Government Operations in the Occupied Territories and currently President of the Gas and Oil Exploration Industries.

According to Dangot, "Our equation with simple Arab states - economics is equal security, and vice versa. Discourse around Israel is changing from threat and enemy to strategic partner and business partner. Egyptian intelligence personnel I was facing in a military context in Operation Cloud Pillar met with me last week, this time 'on my citizens', to talk about the gas and the many regional opportunities that can be derived from it. "

We asked Dangot if he was not worried that Israel was helping financially to countries that were not necessarily stable, which might be headed by extremists hostile to Israel, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt over the past decade.

"First of all, the crisis is in our hands. So, if negative events occur and we conclude that continued gas flow is detrimental to national security, we can act accordingly.

From a strategic-security point of view, Israel must now also enjoy the diversity of its energy sources. The incident last May, in which gas flow to Israel was halted due to a security threat posed to the Tamar reservoir, will not be repeated, thanks to the whale and crocodile shark that will start operating in about a year.

Meanwhile, President Reuben (Ruby) Rivlin yesterday sent a solemn letter to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi after the ministerial announcement.

In the letter, President Rivlin wrote to his Egyptian counterpart: "This is a solemn day in the history of our two countries' relations. As I write to you, natural gas has begun to flow from the Whale Reservoir to Egypt and connect our countries and peoples. Over 40 years of peace. "