EU agrees to export Israeli gas instead of Russian

Associated Press shared the report.

Under the agreement, Israel will send more gas through a pipeline to Egypt's LNG terminal in the Mediterranean. Egypt has opportunities to liquefy it. The liquefied gas will then be transported across Europe by tanker to Europe.

"What a special moment. I very warmly welcome the signing of this historic agreement," von der Leyen said in a joint news conference with Egyptian and Israel energy ministers.

"Last year, the European Union imported roughly 40% of its gas from Russia, and due to that has had difficulty imposing sanctions on Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Israel has two operational gas fields off its Mediterranean coast containing an estimated 690 billion cubic meters of natural gas combined, and a third offshore rig is in the works," AP reported.

The deal will also benefit Egypt, which has a large gas capacity in the Mediterranean since the country's uprising against Hosni Mubarak in 2011. In recent years, the Egyptian government has repaired and modernized facilities. In 2018, Egypt signed a USD 15 billion agreement with Israeli company Delek Drilling and its US partner Noble Energy to transport natural gas.