Egypt's Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), an Israeli-Egyptian consortium, has announced for the first time that it pays Egypt US$40 million per month from the US$70 million it earns to export gas to Israel. A company official said that EMG pays US$40 million monthly to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. The company official told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the export halt following the bombing of a Sinai pipeline is costing the company between US$60 and US$70 million. No date has been set for the resumption of exports, but the Ministry of Petroleum has promised to resume gas supply to Israel once the pipeline is repaired. Regarding amending the gas prices set in a contract between the two countries, the company official said that EMG held a meeting with officials from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and they are trying to convince the Israeli side to enter negotiations. The source said Israel wants to postpone the price adjustment until 2012, the agreed upon date for amending the contract. A Ministry of Petroleum official had earlier announced that the price of the natural gas exports to Israel, after the amended agreement signed in 2009 between the two parties, exceeded US$5 per million British Thermal Units (BTU). Of that, EMG takes US$1.5 for transport, and more than US$3 goes to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. Mechanical repairs to the Arish pipeline, which also supplies gas to Jordan, are nearing completion and authorities are tightening security to prevent another bombing, according to an EGAS official. Translated from the Arabic Edition
