Egypt and Lebanon signed an agreemen t on Wednesday to rehabilitate Lebanon's gas infrastructure, reviving a regional project to transport gas from Egypt to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria, with international backing, after it was suspended in 2011.
The project is intended to help ease Lebanon's long-running electricity crisis. The signing ceremony took place in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, with the agreement signed by Egyptian Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi and Lebanese Energy Minister Joseph Saddi.
In a statement, the Egyptian government said the agreement covers repair and rehabilitation work on Lebanese gas pipelines through Technical Gas Services (TGS), a company affiliated with Egypt's petroleum sector.
The works include restoring a 30-kilometre 24-inch gas pipeline and upgrading measurement and pressure-reduction stations, control systems, and operational infrastructure.
The agreement forms part of a wider plan to transport natural gas to Lebanon through the "Arab Gas Pipeline", which links Egypt with Jordan and Syria before reaching northern Lebanon.
The project was first proposed in 2021 following the worsening energy crisis in Lebanon.
The initiative is also part of an international support package for Lebanon. The World Bank previously announced its readiness to finance gas supplies to help Beirut restart power plants, conditional on reforms in Lebanon’s energy sector, including upgrades to transformer stations, distribution networks and protection systems.
Senior sources at Egypt's petroleum ministry told The New Arab that the agreement also prepares for a second phase involving the transfer of gas from Egypt's national grid to Jordan, and onward through Syria to Lebanon, using the Arab Gas Pipeline infrastructure after damaged sections are rehabilitated, particularly in Lebanon.
According to the sources, the process requires political and technical coordination among Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, along with security and logistical arrangements to ensure uninterrupted flows.
Furthermore, a petroleum expert told The New Arab that although the project is presented as a transfer of Egyptian gas, part of the supply effectively depends on gas imported from Israel , which Cairo pumps into its domestic grid before re-exporting it.
This would make Israel an indirect party to the arrangement, with some of the gas already flowing to Jordan and Lebanon, with the latter expected to be added in a later phase once the pipeline rehabilitation is completed. Egypt has significantly increased imports of Israeli gas in recent years, rising from around 600 million cubic feet per day to approximately 1.1 billion cubic feet per day, with imports expected to reach 2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of July.
That volume accounts for around 20% of Egypt's daily fuel needs, estimated at 6.2 billion cubic feet required to operate electricity networks, transport systems and local factories.
Energy experts described the project as a vital lifeline for Lebanon , where the electricity sector has nearly collapsed, with state power available for only a few hours a day in some areas.
Most electricity currently comes from power-generating ships leased from abroad and stationed off Beirut's coast.
Experts said restoring gas flows could allow Lebanese power plants to operate more efficiently, reduce reliance on costly liquid fuel and ease pressure on the country's public finances.
For Egypt , analysts said the agreement reflects a broader strategy to strengthen Cairo's role as a regional energy hub through both gas exports and technical and engineering services.
The deal also comes amid mounting pressure on energy markets in Egypt and Lebanon due to geopolitical tensions in the Gulf, renewing focus on regional energy integration projects to secure fuel supplies and address worsening energy shortages.