Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Tarek El- Molla paid an official visit to Leviathan gas marine field in the Mediterranean Sea near the seaboard of Carmel in the northern section of Israel.
The Egyptian minister inspected the platform of the natural gas there.
This visit is depicted as unprecedented.
It is worth noting that the gas platform is 10 kilometers off the western coast of Carmel.
The minister started his visit to Israel on Sunday and concluded it today, Tuesday.
This visit is the first to Israel within five years and the first of an Egyptian minister not of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Israel began supplying Egypt with the natural gas extracted from the Leviathan marine field in January 2020 according to Dolphinus agreements signed between Egypt and Israel in 2018.
It is scheduled that the Egyptian minister will meet during his visit with Mohamed Mustafa, an economic advisor to the Palestinian Primer Minister in Ramallah, and Israel’s Minister of Energy, Yuval Steinitz.
A press statement mentioned that the ministerial meeting aims to crystallize a joint vision and methodical dialogue to develop a regional market in light of the statute of the regional forum to support efforts of state members in investing in their reserve of natural gas and using present and future infrastructure through fruitful and constructive cooperation among the states.
The East Med Gas Forum comprises seven members, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Cyrus, Greece, Jordan, and Italy.
The forum was founded in January 2019 in Cairo to establish a regional market in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, improving trade relations and securing demand and supplying among the member states.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla, to be the first senior Egyptian official who visited Israel since 2016.
Netanyahu welcomed El Molla, saying: “This is an important day, marking our continued cooperation on energy and so many other things.”
He added: “This began of course with the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel but now it is becoming something that can better the lives of all the people in economic terms and we think that this is a great opportunity for regional cooperation between Egypt, Israel, and the other countries.”
“We are an energy hub. Together we can supply not only our own needs but the needs of many other countries. So it is in this spirit of friendship and cooperation and peace and prosperity,” the prime minister continued.
The Egyptian minister has started his official visit to Ramallah and Israel on Sunday.
The visit targets enhancing the cooperation and dialogue between East Mediterranean Gas Forum members, and supporting the goals and the efforts of the forum.
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