Egyptian natural gas will be piped to Jordan where it will be used to generate electricity which will then be transmitted to Lebanon via Syria. Some of the gas will also be piped to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria for use in the Deir Ammar power plant that is located near Tripoli in northern Lebanon , under a plan agreed by the four governments on Wednesday to ease a crippling power crisis.
The plan, which an Egyptian minister said would be implemented as soon as possible, is part of a US-backed effort to address Lebanon’s power shortages
Life in Lebanon has been paralyzed by the crisis that has deepened as supplies of imported fuel have dried up. It is part of a wider financial crisis that has sunk the Lebanese currency by 90% since 2019.
The plan is however complicated by US sanctions on the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad. Lebanese officials have called on Washington to grant an exemption.
Damascus has said it is ready to cooperate.
The plan was approved by ministers from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt at a meeting in Amman.
“We have put a roadmap with the ministers so that within the coming few weeks we can ensure that everything is ready so that we can after this review begin pumping gas at the earliest opportunity,” Egypt’s petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said.
Asharq Al-Awsat/YL
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