For the first time since the signing of the Abraham Accords, energy ministers from Israel, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States convened a video conference on Thursday evening.
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The historic conference was held in the wake of the successful meeting last month in Abu Dhabi that included the energy ministers from Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and the US. Within the framework of that meeting, the ministers decided to meet for a second time and expand their energy-related partnerships to include Morocco and Sudan, which recently normalized relations with Israel, and Egypt as well, which is spearheading the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF).
Participating in Thursday's video conference were Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla, Emirati Energy Minister Mohamed Faraj al-Mazrouei, Bahraini Energy Minister Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed, Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mines and Environment Aziz Rabbah, and Sudanese Minister of Energy and Mining Khairy Abdel Rahman.
The ministers discussed matters pertaining to oil and natural gas, energy efficiency, renewable energy, research and development. They also discussed the ways to improve national security, economic prosperity and further investment in infrastructure and technology.
"This is another historic benchmark," Steinitz said about the meeting Thursday, "and is about leveraging the field of energy to advance cooperation and dialogue with Arab countries. There's no doubt that the EMGF in Cairo, which I helped establish two and a half years ago, is now paving the path for additional partnerships in the fields of renewable energy, research and development, and also the possibility of connecting power grids in the near future."
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