Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum ministerial meeting postponed as Israel’s aggression on Gaza persists

A meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which includes Egypt, Palestine and Israel, among other countries, has been delayed.

An agreement among forum members for Egypt to take part in excavating gas from Gaza’s offshore field is also on hold alongside the session, sources told Mada Masr.

The secretariat of the forum told member states that the meeting, due to be held in January, will be postponed to February, said Palestinian Energy Authority head Zafer Melhem.

Melhem and senior sources from Jordan's Energy Ministry who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity said they were not informed of the reasons behind the session’s postponement.

But former Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal noted that holding the meeting at present would be challenging, due to tensions among forum members amid the war on Gaza. 

Established in January 2019, the EMGF has annually brought together energy ministers from member countries — Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, France and Italy — along with three observers: the United States, the European Union, and the World Bank.

After two years of negotiations, EMGF members reached an agreement in June 2023 to develop Gaza Marine, a natural gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip whose development has been disputed for decades. The Palestinian side had obtained “written approval” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Melhem, and the plan was due to begin in October.  

Under the agreement, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) was to lead a consortium that would get a 45 percent stake of the Gaza Marine concession, 4.5 of which would go to EGAS, according to Melhem. The consortium would extract the gas for Egypt to purchase — to be transported to its national network through a gas pipeline connecting the field to Arish. Egypt already buys gas from Israel to supplement its national energy supply and export the surplus to Europe.

The remaining share of the concession would be divided between the Palestinian Investment Fund and the Federation of Arab Contractors, each of whom would get a 27.5 percent share of the field.

Melhem said the agreement was intended to ensure that the Palestinian Authority receives the necessary quantities to supply Gaza with gas for electricity generation.

But after Israel launched its aggression on Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Egypt’s plans to develop Gaza Marine were postponed, said Melhem and Kamal. 

Since October 7, negotiations between the Egyptian and Palestinian sides have not addressed the Gaza Marine project, Melhem told Mada Masr.