Special to WorldTribune.com

Israel’s Leviathan has reached a tentative agreement to pump natural gas to Egypt for up to 15 years.

In the deal announced on Nov. 25, Leviathan will supply Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings with up to 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year for 10 to 15 years. Egypt will get the gas via an existing undersea pipeline.

The deal is said to be worth up to $10 billion.

“We’ve worked with Dolphinus before and we expect to reach a final agreement quickly,” Yossi Abu, chief executive of Israel’s Delek Drilling, told Reuters.

“The Egyptian market is thirsty for gas, both for domestic use and for their export facilities. There is a lot of room for cooperation there,” Abu said.

Egypt indicated it was still interested in importing Israeli gas despite Italy’s ENI discovering the massive Zohr gas field off Egypt’s coast in August.

Earlier this year, Dolphinus agreed a seven-year deal to buy at least $1.2 billion of gas from Israel’s Tamar field, near Leviathan.

“Egypt is becoming a regional hub through cooperation with the Leviathan and Tamar partners, and together with Israel and Cyprus,” Abu said.

  Dolphinus Holdings, Israel’s Leviathan agrees to $10 billion deal to export gas to Egypt, undersea pipeline, WorldTribune.com