From the Daily News Egypt:
Bowing to pressure from the opposition, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy announced Sunday that the government will revise its natural gas export prices and will not sign new exportation contracts until the end of 2010.
Since the latest energy price hikes kicked-in this year, experts and opposition members have been calling on Fahmy to amend the prices on all existing gas contracts, saying Egypt’s rate is below the current international market prices.
Several opposition parties have also opposed the idea of exporting gas to Israel as a matter of principle.
“We will review prices of natural gas in all agreements without any exception,” Fahmy said on Sunday.
Although in his statements the minister did not specifically focus on the gas agreement with Israel, government newspapers reported that Sunday’s PA session was devoted to debating this specific deal.
According to Abdallah Helmy, coordinator of the popular campaign to prevent Egyptian gas exports, who was present at the session, the government has reached a consensus that “we don’t have enough gas to sign any new export deals.”
