 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Focus Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Just what is in the pipeline?
By Aziza Sami
US Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson's visit to Cairo once again focussed attention on the issue of Egypt exporting gas to Israel, with the US saying it was ready to offer "assistance" in funding the construction of a regional pipeline for the export of gas.
While the primary aim of the visit, according to Richardson, was to follow up on the Energy Cooperation Agreement between Egypt and the US, signed last July during President Mubarak's visit to Washington, its secondary aim, he said, was to "promote regional energy cooperation that can contribute to peace and stability in the region". Two annexes to the Energy Cooperation Agreement were signed in the fields of renewable energy and advanced power systems.
The United States Agency for Development (USAID) has also approved $1 million in funding for a feasibility study of a US-Egypt-Israel trilateral solar project, Richardson said.
The US official, who met with President Mubarak, said that cooperation between Egypt and the US would be expanded in the field of seismic technology, nonproliferation and the exchange of scientists. This would put Egypt on a par with Israel, where a similar agreement had been signed a couple of days before during Richardson's stop in Tel Aviv. The Israeli-US agreement had provoked a flurry of reports that the two countries had actually signed a nuclear cooperation agreement.
"We did not sign any agreement to expand nuclear cooperation," Richardson told reporters. "We agreed to expand existing contacts here -- namely in the area of seismic technology and nonproliferation technology verification. That means bringing in Israeli scientists [to the US]. Israel is a sensitive country which has not signed the NPT. Egypt is not in that category because it has [signed the NPT]."
Following his meeting with President Mubarak Richardson revealed "[we have] agreed to expand our cooperation with Egypt in seismic technology, and the exchange of scientists, to have more Egyptian scientists going to America's national laboratories".
Richardson's visit to Cairo came as part of a 10-day tour to major oil producing countries to lobby them to increase their oil output. The US, concerned about falling crude oil production and rises in oil prices, timed Richardson's tour to precede the OPEC ministerial conference due to be held on 27 March when member-states will decide whether to relax curbs on oil output.
In Cairo Richardson said that the US was ready to "assist with the financing of a pipeline exporting gas to Israel".
"If there is American participation," he revealed, "we will involve OPIC (the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) and the Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) if there are US goods contributing (to the project)."
Although plans to export gas to Israel have made sporadic appearances in the headlines for some years now, speculation rose to fever pitch when, in December last year, Mohamed Bassiouni, Egypt's ambassador to Israel, was reported as saying that a deal was nearing conclusion. The announcement was confirmed by Israel though the Egyptian government sounded a more cautious note, with the Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy going no further than to state that "Egypt has no reservations about exporting gas to any of its neighbours".
Though talk of the gas export project to Israel has been downplayed since then, Richardson told reporters that "we applaud Egypt's decision on the gas pipeline [as] an important, courageous decision."
"We support President Mubarak's decision to set up this gas pipeline to Turkey, and possibly Jordan and Israel," he said. "I think having good economic relations between Egypt and Israel helps the peace process."
Is there, then, going to be a pipe to Israel? It appears almost as uncertain as the pipe to Turkey which, according to the Financial Times, has "over-stated" its need for natural gas.
Former Minister of Petroleum Hamdi El-Banbi revealed in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly more than a year ago that Israel does not yet have the "facilities" -- a natural gas grid -- through which to distribute gas to its domestic market.
