Israel will sell natural gas to Egypt and Jordan as part of a deal estimated at $30 billion, Energy Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz said Tuesday.
Steinitz was one of seven energy ministers to launch the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum via video conference at an event organized by Cairo, the seat of the forum's headquarters.
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Ambassadors from forum members Italy, Greece, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, and the Palestinian Authority, tuned in from Cairo.
The ambassadors of three other countries interested in joining the forum – France as a member state and the United States and the European Union – also participated.
The EMGF was established by Steinitz and Egyptian Energy Minister Tarek el-Molla as an informal grouping after Israel and Egypt discovered offshore natural gas fields.
Tuesday's ceremony marked the formal evolution of the forum into an internationally recognized entity. The forum is also expected to include various companies and interest groups that will participate in technical meetings on energy.
The joint statement by the forum's members said the EMGF "aims to serve as a platform that brings together gas producers, consumers, and transit countries to create a shared vision and establish a structured systematic policy dialogue on natural gas, leading to the development of a sustainable regional gas market and unlocking the full gas resource potential in the region for the benefit and welfare of its people."
It also seeks to serve as a counterforce to Russia, Lebanon and Turkey's aspirations in terms of the regional energy sphere.
"The blessed gas finds bring regional cooperation with Arab and European countries, the first of its kind in history, including contracts to export $30 billion of blue-and-white gas to Jordan and Egypt, and that's only the beginning," Steinitz said in a statement.
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