Lebanon upgrading pipeline to receive natural gas from Egypt

Lebanon’s energy minister has launched a project to revive the Arab Gas Pipeline delivering Egyptian gas to Lebanon.

The move comes as the small country is reeling from a crippling electricity crisis. The pipeline has been out of service in Lebanon since before Syria’s 10-year conflict began in 2011.

Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad says Egypt’s Technical Gas Services will begin renovation work on the pipeline inside Lebanon within days and work should be done in a little more than two months.

Egypt has agreed to supply Lebanon with natural gas to its power plants through Jordan and Syria. Syrian experts have finished work inside the war-torn country.

Despite US sanctions on Syria, Washington has supported the resumption of natural gas flow from Egypt to Lebanon via Syria.

Fayad tells The Associated Press during a tour of an oil facility that US officials who have visited Lebanon said the contract to bring gas from Egypt will not be targeted by sanctions because “no cash is going from any side to Syria.”