A lawyer for Eastern Mediterranean Gas Co., owner of the marine pipeline crucial to an agreement signed recently for delivery of natural gas produced offshore Israel to Egypt, has served notice the company is not a party in the deal (OGJ Online, Mar. 18, 2015).
The Jerusalem Post reported the lawyer, Nir Sever of M. Firon Advocates & Notaries, wrote a letter to the gas suppliers saying, “EMG was surprised, once again, to read in the press about an agreement assuming the use of its pipeline for ‘reverse flow’ of gas between the Israeli Tamar reservoir partners and Dolphinus Holdings Ltd.”
The pipeline originally carried natural gas from El-Arish, Egypt, to Ashkelon, Israel, but has been out of use since 2011 because of sabotage in Egypt.
Delek Group, a partner in the group operating Tamar gas field, said the new deal provides for interruptible sales of at least 177 bcf of Tamar gas in its first 3 years to Dolphinus Holdings, which would take delivery of the gas at Askhelon. Dolphinus is a consortium of large gas consumers in Egypt.
In his letter, Sever expressed concern about costs of reversing the pipeline flow and about economics of the operation at volumes envisioned in the agreement, the Jerusalem Post reported.
