BEIRUT —
Lebanon signed a deal Tuesday to import natural
gas from Egypt via Syria to boost power supply by an additional four hours a
day amid round-the-clock cuts.
اضافة اعلان
Grappling with its
worst-ever financial crisis, Lebanon launched talks with
Egypt last year to
import gas through the Arab Gas Pipeline, which passes through Jordan, Syria,
and Lebanon.
On Tuesday,
Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad and Syrian and Egyptian officials signed a
final version of the agreement in Beirut.
“The importance of
this deal ... stems from the fact that it will secure an additional four hours
of electricity per day following its implementation,” Fayad told a press
conference.
The deal is a part
of wider efforts — which include a separate electricity deal with Jordan — to
boost supply by 8 to 10 hours a day in the coming months, up from just two
currently.
Implementation of
both agreements still needs World Bank funding and US assurances that they
won’t trigger sanctions under the so-called Caesar Act which prohibits
commercial dealings with Damascus.
“We hope that
after today, all hurdles will have been cleared so that we can receive
World Bank funding and ... final guarantees from the US, especially with regard to
sanctions,” Fayad said.
Syria stands to
gain gas from Egypt as an in-kind payment for its part in the deal, but will
not receive funds, Fayad told AFP in January.
Two years into
Lebanon’s economic meltdown, the cash-strapped state is struggling to purchase
fuel for its power stations.
With mains
electricity effectively non-existent, many rely on private generators, but
prices have increased after the government lifted fuel subsidies as global fuel
prices soared.
Lebanon’s
crumbling electricity sector has cost the country more than $40 billion since
the end of its 1975–1990 civil war.
Successive
governments have failed to cut down on losses, repair crumbling infrastructure
or even collect electricity bills regularly across the country.
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