ISRAEL’S INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTRY said Egypt was still supplying Israel with natural gas despite the countrys political unrest but added the ministry was prepared for any possible disruptions.
Stocks in Tel Aviv suffered yesterday as mass protests continued in Egypt, and companies exposed to Egypt saw their shares slide, led by a 17 per cent drop in Ampal American Israel Corporation, Reuters reported. Ampal owns 12.5 per cent of East Mediterranean Gas, a joint Egyptian-Israeli company that supplies an estimated 2.1 bn cu m of natural gas annually to Israel.
EMG last month signed agreements worth as much as $10bn to sell gas to five Israeli companies, including Oil Refineries whose shares fell 5.1 per cent.
"Gas supplies to Israel are continuing as normal even in recent days. At the same time, the ministry is following events," the infrastructure ministry said in a statement.
It added that it held a drill last June to examine different scenarios that could arise in the country's gas supplies, which improved its readiness to handle any disruptions.
Israel, historically dependent on energy imports, says that large natural gas reservoirs recently discovered off its Mediterranean shore will meet its needs for decades and even make it an energy exporter.
