Lebanese hopes for an increase in electricity supply have risen through the project to import electricity from Jordan and gas from Egypt, following information about efforts by U.S. Special Envoy for International Energy Amos Hochstein to secure American guarantees for Egypt to avoid U.S. sanctions considering that the gas will pass through Syria.
Yesterday, Reuters reported from the Ministry of Energy that Lebanon and Egypt will sign a "final" agreement to import gas on June 21, after the plan, deemed essential for boosting electricity supplies for the struggling Lebanese economy, was delayed for months. This announcement means that American guarantees are now available to prevent Egypt and Jordan from facing sanctions under the "Caesar Act."
The plan, first proposed in the summer of 2021, is part of a U.S.-supported effort to address the electricity shortage in Lebanon using Egyptian gas supplied through Jordan and Syria. The project had been awaiting American guarantees against sanctions on the two countries under the "Caesar Act," as well as financing from the World Bank.
Sources accompanying Hochstein’s recent visit to Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that the American diplomat "promised to secure a document of American guarantees for Egypt after signing the final agreement." The sources stated that these guarantees "will allow for the transfer of gas from Egypt to Lebanon via Syria and will supply a gas-operated power plant in northern Lebanon, increasing electricity supply by about 4 hours daily."
Hochstein mentioned earlier this week that the final approval of the agreement between Lebanon and Egypt would allow Washington to assess whether the project aligns with U.S. sanctions on Syria, and afterward, "the gas can eventually flow."
Reuters quoted the Ministry of Energy yesterday stating that the final agreement will be signed on June 21. If the agreement is signed, all procedures will have been completed, following a similar agreement signed three months ago with Jordan and Syria's Ministry of Energy. The project awaits American guarantees to avoid imposing sanctions on Jordan and Egypt for violating the "Caesar Act."
The United States enacted the "Caesar Act" in 2019, allowing it to freeze the assets of anyone dealing with Syria in order to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to end the 11-year civil war and agree to a political solution.
While some in Lebanon link the final agreement on maritime border demarcation with Israel to American guarantees for importing gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan through Syrian territory, sources from the Ministry of Energy denied receiving any information relating these two issues during Hochstein's meeting with Minister of Energy Walid Fayad last Monday, stating to Asharq Al-Awsat that they had not heard of any connection between the two files.
