Jordan will get Egyptian gas via a pipeline through Jordan and Syria in a plan to ease the ongoing energy crisis. Governments from the four countries agreed on the plan on Wednesday, saying they intended to implement it as soon as possible. Lebanon is struggling with an electricity shortage and depleted supplies of imported fuel as part of a wider financial crisis since 2019.
However, the plan to pipe gas from Egypt to Lebanon was complicated by US sanctions on the Syrian government. President Bashar al-Assad’s administration has previously expressed readiness to cooperate, while Lebanese officials have urged the US to grant an exemption. In response, Washington is discussing a solution with the World Bank, Jordan, and Egypt.
Egypt’s petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said he and his counterparts had put a roadmap aiming to start pumping gas to Lebanon at the earliest opportunity. Lebanon’s energy minister Raymond Ghajar said the country is working with the World Bank to secure financing to restart a power plant in the north which is expected to generate 450 MW of electricity.
