| Arab Gas Pipeline | |
|---|---|
Location of Arab Gas Pipeline |
|
| Location | |
| Country | Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey |
| General direction | south-north |
| From | Arish |
| Passes through | Aqaba, Amman, El Rehab, Deir Ali, Damascus, Baniyas, Aleppo |
| To | Homs, Tripoli, (Kilis) |
| General information | |
| Type | natural gas |
| Partners | EGAS ENPPI PETROGET GASCO SPC |
| Commissioned | 2003 |
| Technical information | |
| Length | 1,200 km (750 mi) |
| Maximum discharge | 10.3 billion cubic metres (360×109 cu ft) |
The Arab Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline in the Middle East. It exports Egyptian natural gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, with a separate line to Israel. It has a total length of 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) at a cost of US$1.2 billion.[1]
Contents |
The first section of pipeline runs from Arish in Egypt to Aqaba in Jordan. It has three segments. The first 250 kilometres (160 mi) long overland segment links Al-Arish to Taba on the Red Sea. It also consists of a compressor station in Arish and a metering station in Taba. The second segment is a 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long subsea segment from Taba to Aqaba. The third segment, which includes also a metering station, is a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long onshore connection to the Aqaba Thermal Power Station.[2]
The $220 million Arish–Aqaba section was completed in July 2003.[3] The diameter of the pipeline is 36 inches (910 mm) and has a capacity of 10.3 billion cubic metres (360 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year.[4] The Egyptian consortium that developed this section included EGAS, ENPPI, PETROGET and the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO).
The second section extended the pipeline in Jordan from Aqaba through Amman to El Rehab, (24 kilometres (15 mi) from the Syrian border). The length of this section is 390 kilometres (240 mi) and it cost $300 million.[5] The second section was commissioned in 2005.
The third section has a total length of 319 kilometres (198 mi) from Jordan to Syria. A 90 kilometres (56 mi) stretch runs from the Jordan–Syrian border to the Deir Ali power station. From there the pipeline runs through Damascus to the Al Rayan gas compressor station near Homs. This sections includes four launching/receiving stations, 12 valve stations and a fiscal metering station with a capacity of 1.1 billion cubic metres (39 billion cubic feet), and it supplies Tishreen and Deir Ali power stations. The section was completed in February 2008, and it was built by the Syrian Petroleum Company and Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom.[6][7]
The Homs–Tripoli connection runs from the Al Rayan compressor station to Baniyas in Syria and then via 32-kilometre (20 mi) long stretch to Tripoli, Lebanon. The agreement to start supplies was signed on 2 September 2009 and test run started on 8 September 2009.[4] Regular gas supplies started on 19 October 2009 and gas is delivered to the Deir Ammar power station.[8]
There is a proposal to prolong the branch from Banias to Cyprus.[9]
The Arish–Ashkelon pipeline is a 100 kilometres (62 mi) submarine gas pipeline connecting the Arab Gas Pipeline with Israel. Although it is not officially a part of the Arab Gas Pipeline project, it branches off from the same pipeline in Egypt. The pipeline is built and operated by the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), a joint company of Mediterranean Gas Pipeline Ltd (28%), the Israeli company Merhav (25%), PTT (25%), EMI-EGI LP (12%), and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (10%).[10] The pipeline became operational in February 2008, at a cost of $180 million – $550 million (the exact figure is disputed).[11] Initially Egypt and Israel had agreed to supply through this pipeline 1.7 billion cubic metres (60 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year for use by the Israel Electric Corporation.[12] This has since been raised to 2.1 billion cubic metres (74 billion cubic feet) per year to be delivered through the year 2028. In addition, by late 2009, EMG had signed contracts to supply through the pipeline additional 2 billion cubic metres (71 billion cubic feet) per year to private electricity generators and various industrial concerns in Israel and negotiations with other potential buyers were ongoing. In 2010, the pipeline is supplying approximately half of the natural gas consumed in Israel, with the other half being supplied from domestic resources. The total physical capacity of the pipeline is 9 billion cubic metres (320 billion cubic feet) per year and agreements between the two nations provide a framework for the purchase of up to 7.5 billion cubic metres (260 billion cubic feet) per year of Egyptian gas by Israeli entities, making Israel one of Egypt's most important natural gas export markets. In 2010 some Egyptian activists appealed for a legal provision against governmental authorities to stop gas flow to Israel according to the obscure contract and very low price compared to the global rates, however the provision was denied by Mubarak regime for unknown reasons. In 2011, after the 25 January Revolution against Mubarak regime, many Egyptians called for stopping the gas project with Israel due to low prices. After a fifth bombing of the pipeline, flow had to be stopped for repair.[13][14]
In March 2006, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Romania reached an agreement to build the pipeline's extension through Syria to the Turkish border. From there, the pipeline will be connected to the possible Nabucco Pipeline for the delivery of gas to Europe. Turkey expects to buy up to 4 billion cubic metres (140 billion cubic feet) of gas per year from the Arab Gas Pipeline.[15] On 4 January 2008, Turkey and Syria signed an agreement to construct a 63 kilometres (39 mi) pipeline between Aleppo and Kilis as a first segment of the Syria-Turkey connection of the Arab Gas Pipeline.[16][17] On 14 October 2008, Stroytransgaz signed a US$71 million contract for the construction of this section.[18] This contract was annulled at the beginning of 2009 and it was re-tendered. The connection is expected to be ready by 2011. From Kilis, a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) long pipeline with a diameter of 12 inches (300 mm) will connect the pipeline with the Turkish grid. It allows to supply the Turkish grid via the Syrian grid even before completing the Homs–Allepo segment.
In September 2004, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon agreed to connect the Arab Gas Pipeline with Iraq's gas grid to allow Iraq to export gas to Europe.[5]
On 5 February, amidst the 2011 Egyptian protests an explosion was reported at the pipeline near the El Arish natural gas compressor station, which supplies pipelines to Israel and Jordan.[19][20][21][22][23] As a result, supplies to Israel and Jordan were halted.[24]
According to the governor of the North Sinai Governorate, "a gas station located near the blast site was not damaged and the explosion has not hit the residential areas".[25] State television laid the blame on perpetrators "who took advantage of the unstable security situation in the country."[20][25] However, according to the head of Egyptian Natural Gas Company, the explosion was caused by a gas leak and not by an attack.[26]
On 27 April 2011, an explosion at the pipeline near Al-Sabil village in the El-Arish region halted natural gas supplies to Israel and Jordan.[27] According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources unidentified saboteurs blew up a monitoring room of the pipeline.[28]
On 4 July 2011, an explosion at the pipeline near Nagah in the Sinai Peninsula halted natural gas supplies to Israel and Jordan.[29] An official said that armed men with machine guns forced guards at the station to leave before planting explosive charge there[29]. This is the third attack on Egyptian gas pipelines since an uprising overthrew Hosni Mubarak.[29] There was also a failed attempt to attack the pipeline in March.[29]
An overnight explosion on 26–27 September caused extensive damage to the pipeline at a location 50 kilometers from Egypt's border with Israel. As the pipeline had not been supplying gas to Israel since an earlier explosion in July, it did not affect Israel's natural gas supply. According to Egyptian authorities, local Bedouin Islamists were behind the attack.[30]