AA / Gaza (Palestinian Territories)
The Palestinian Investment Fund (sovereign fund) is moving towards the conclusion of a technical agreement with the Egyptian Public Gas Company (EGAS), under which the development of the “Gaza Marine” gas field will be carried out.
Official Palestinian sources told the Anadolu Agency correspondent on Sunday that the two sides will sign a technical agreement in the last quarter of 2022 that will determine the sharing of partners’ quotas and will also deal terms of gas marketing.
The Palestinian Investment Fund and the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) each have two equal shares, ie 27.5% of the field, while the remaining share (45%) will go to the operating company.
The Palestinian sources avoided mentioning Israel’s role in the agreement, saying only that “things are progressing on the path of development of the field in agreement with all the partners concerned” without quoting them.
In February 2021, the Palestinian Fund, CCC and EGAS signed a memorandum of cooperation with the aim of developing the Gaza Marine gas field and the required infrastructure to supply Palestine’s natural gas needs.
According to the same sources, following the signing of the agreement EGAS will begin the practical arrangements to develop the field in preparation for the extraction of the gas in commercial quantities, 30 months following the signing of the agreement.
The Palestinians own the field discovered in the southern Mediterranean area in the late 90s of the last century, known as the “Gaza Marine”. However, the gas has not been extracted from this field until today due to Israeli refusal of Palestinian requests for its exploitation.
Located 36 km west of Gaza, in the southern Mediterranean, the field was developed in the year 2000 by the British company “British Gas” before handing over the project to the Dutch company “Royal Dutch Shell” which, in turn, had left him in 2018.
The reserves of this field are estimated at 32 billion cubic meters of natural gas, with a production capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters for a period of 20 years.
*Translated from Arabic by Hatem Kattou
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