Al-Beblawi on IMF board Hazem Al-Beblawi, Egypt's former Prime Minister, has been elected as executive director representing Egypt and twelve Arab countries and the Maldives on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He replaces Abdel-Shakour Shaalan who held this position for 22 years and who was formerly director of the Middle East department of the IMF. In his new position Al-Beblawi will be one of 24 directors who form the executive board which is responsible for conducting day-to-day business of the IMF. It discusses everything from the IMF staff's annual reviews of member countries' economies to economic policy issues relevant to the global economy. Al-Beblawi, a prominent liberal economist and politician, was prime minister from July 2013 until February 2014, following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. Al-Beblawi previously also served as Finance Minister from July to October 2011. Later he co-founded the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. Prior to his career in the Egyptian government, Al-Beblawi, 77, was an advisor to the Arab Monetary Fund and he served as undersecretary-general at the UN between 1995 and 2000. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Sorbonne University in Paris. Importing Israeli gas The partners in Israel's offshore Tamar natural gas field said earlier this week that they have signed a non-binding agreement to supply up to 2.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas over seven years, to the Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings Ltd., which is a consortium of large non-governmental Egyptian gas consumers and distributors led by Egyptian businessman Alaa Arafa. According to Globes, an Israeli business news website the supply of gas will be on an interruptible basis, and will be of gas that the Tamar partners have available after meeting the needs of Israeli customers. However the partners undertake to supply a minimum of five BCM over three years. The gas will be transported via the Israel Natural Gas Lines system to Ashkelon, and from there to Egypt via the existing East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline formerly used to export Egyptian natural gas to Jordan and Israel before several sabotage incidents forced the government to stop using it. A press release by Delek Group, who has an approximate share of 15 per cent in the Tamar field said that to the best of their knowledge, the gas to be purchased by the Buyer will mainly be supplied to industrial consumers in Egypt. “The price of gas that is set in the Letter of Intent is similar to the prices set in other agreements for the export of gas from Israel and is essentially based on linkage to the price of a barrel of Brent oil and includes a ‘floor price',” said the press release. The press release also added that the potential transaction shall be subject to completion of negotiations between the parties and signing of the Binding Agreement. “At this point the parties estimate that the Binding Agreement will be subject to several contingent conditions, including receipt of all the required authorisations from the authorities in Israel and Egypt.” A month ago Israeli partners in the nearby Leviathan field have also signed a non-binding agreement with BG Group PLC to supply its facility in Egypt. Dow Jones Business News reported that the Tamar field, where production began last year, contains about 9 trillion cubic feet of gas, most of which has been earmarked for the local market. The Leviathan field is estimated to contain about 20 trillion cubic feet of gas, but production has not yet started.
