When the war started and Israel needed to divert its natural gas production to its internal market rather than exports, Egypt understood and supported the decision, NewMed Energy's CEO Yossi Abu said Tuesday in an interview with Maariv correspondent Ben Caspi at the 2024 Economic Summit in partnership with Bank Leumi. Abu discussed the war's impact on Israel's natural gas exports and the possible normalization with Saudi Arabia.
What is happening with gas these days? Is the war affecting Israeli gas operations in the Middle East?
I have visited Cairo many times. Israel's natural gas is a classic example of strategic relationships that remain immune even to geopolitical storms. Ultimately, relationships built on genuine needs, benefiting both sides, are strong. We ended 2023 with sales for 8.2 BCM of gas. It is worth keeping in mind that all of Israel's economic system consumes some 13 BCM. This is part of the resilience of the relationship systems.
Does it mean that the gas field is not affected by the situation?
On the contrary, we were able to make a positive impact. After the war began, the Energy Ministry shut down the Tamar field. At the same time, we increased the production of Leviathan to meet Israel's needs. Egypt understood that Israel needed to focus on its internal market and not on exports and expressed its support for the decision. At the end of the day, it is crucial to develop more strategic relationships in the regional arena."
What about Saudi Arabia?
We have been talking for years about Egypt and many looked at us as if we were delusional. I'll give you some facts about Saudi Arabia. I think normalization is imperative. All the elements and conditions are in place. When you look at the regional arena, the interests of Saudi Arabia and Israel are identical. When I look at the triangle of borders between Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, where we are located, Saudi Arabia generates 3,000 megawatts of electricity from petroleum products. They cost four to nine times more than Israeli gas and pollute much more. We can supply natural gas to Saudi Arabia. The economic interest is there, the ability to reach a deal is there, and the infrastructure is nothing and everything in our world. We will get there.