A high-level Israeli delegation began discussions on Thursday with senior Egyptian officials on fixing the price for Egyptian natural gas supplies to Israel, among other issues, according to Israeli media outlets.
The delegation to Egypt is headed by Yitzhak Molkho, advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu.
There have been signs of a looming crisis between Cairo and Tel Aviv after the Egyptian government asked that the prices be raised in order for them to conform to world rates, a suggestion that was rejected by Israel.
Official sources at the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum said that the Egyptian government sent official memos to the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) and to the Israeli government, asking for a review of the gas supply rates for the current month.
The same sources said the memos demanded a change to the date set for the review of gas prices, a date that was included in an agreement signed in 2009 between The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and EMG.
The same sources revealed that the Egyptian pressure forced the Israeli side and EMG to embark on a round of negotiations with Egypt this month.
Israel gets about 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt under an arrangement put in place after the landmark 1979 peace accord between the two nations. It mostly uses coal for power generation but also has its own gas and can use diesel and fuel oil as substitutes.
Egyptian opposition groups have long complained that gas was being sold to Israel at preferential prices and that the contract with East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), which supplies Egyptian gas to Israel, violated bureaucratic regulations.
Egypt's public prosecutor last month ordered that former Energy Minister Sameh Fahmy and five other senior energy officials be detained for questioning over the Israel gas deal.
The government of former President Hosni Mubarak had insisted the deals were agreed on commercial terms.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
