More expensive gas to Jordan JORDAN has agreed to adjust the price it pays for Egyptian gas under a 2004 agreement to $1.27 per million British Thermal Units (BTU)s. This is believed to be the first time Egypt increases the price since both countries agreed on a selling price of $1 per million BTUs seven years ago. Jordan imports about three billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas a year. This comes as a part of an overall plan to revise natural gas contracts that started with the raising the Liquefied natural gas (LNG) export price to Spanish partner Union Fenosa, according to a CI Capital research note. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf recently said he hoped to boost Egypt's income from its revision of gas export prices by $3-4 billion. Analysts believe that this step will strengthen Egypt's position while negotiating higher gas export prices with Israel. Minster of Petroleum Abdallah Ghorab said earlier this week that official negotiations on gas prices between the Egyptian government and the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) will begin later this month. EMG supplies 40 per cent of Israel's gas needs. Israeli media had last week reported that the Israeli delegation which visited Cairo discussed a number of issues with Egyptian officials, including keeping the price of Egyptian gas exports at its current level. Official sources form the Petroleum Ministry said Egypt sent official memorandums to EGAS and the Israelis calling for the need to review prices of gas this month. A deal signed between EGAS, and EMG in 2009, states that prices may be reviewed in 2013. Egypt's prosecutor-general last month ordered the detention of former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmi and five other senior energy officials for questioning over the Israel gas deals being finalised at very low prices. Staying optimistic EGYPT's Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour was addressing a meeting organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo. Nesma Nowar listened in. "We are witnessing the most severe crisis that ever happened in the tourism sector," Abdel-Nour recently said, describing the devastating effect of the post- revolution situation on tourism. In February 2011, the number of tourists visiting Egypt declined by 80 per cent compared to February 2010, and the whole number of tourists visiting Egypt in the first quarter of 2011 was below the same period last year by 45 per cent, causing losses estimated at $1.5 billion. Nonetheless, Abdel-Nour is optimistic that tourism could be the first sector to recover and lead Egypt's economic revival. He noted that the tourism sector could go back to its previous levels by the last quarter of this year once law and order are restored. Tourism contributes 11.5 per cent of Egypt's GDP, and one out of every seven Egyptian workers is directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector. In 2010, according to Abdel-Nour, 14.8 million tourists visited Egypt creating $12.5 billion. The minister has recently been meeting with various ambassadors to convince them that places like Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor and Aswan were totally safe for tourists to visit. He succeeded in convincing Russia, the biggest tourist-exporting market to Egypt, to lift the travel ban to Egypt on the first of April 2011. In 2010, 2.8 million Russian tourists visited Egypt accounting for 20 per cent of the total tourist flow to the country. Abdel-Nour said he believes that the tourism sector is on its way to recovery, citing that the number of tourists visiting Egypt in April is only 35 per cent below last year. "We are on the right track but we have to go back to our normal levels quickly as the losses are huge," he said. He added that Egypt's challenge does not only include increasing the number of tourists, but also maximising revenues from tourism and the number of jobs created by the tourism sector. Abdel-Nour also stressed on the importance of diversifying the markets which export tourists to Egypt. "We need to knock on the doors of new markets like China, India, Argentina and Vietnam," he said. He also believes that Egypt, during five years, has the capacity of attracting 20 million tourists, earning at least $20 billion annually.
