#1 Egypt faces 7 lawsuits over gas supply hiatus
Ashraf Fekry Al-Masry Al-Youm Sun, 23/10/2011 - 10:22
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/507722

Seven lawsuits over Egypt's halting of its natural gas supplies through the
Sinai pipeline are now being considered by international arbitrators,
according to a source at the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum.

Since February, the Egyptian pipeline, which transfers gas to both Israel
and Jordan, has seen six explosions caused by unknown attackers, the last
being on 27 September.

Egyptian authorities have failed to announce the results of their
investigations into the explosions, only blaming masked attackers and saying
that the same technique was used for all the six attacks.

The source, who asked not to be named, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the
lawsuits were filed by shareholders in Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the
company responsible for Egyptian gas exports to Israel.

He said the plaintiffs are demanding compensation for the halt in exports,
which has been in effect since April. The petitions rely on an investment
protection agreement they signed with Egypt, which enables them to resort to
international arbitration for compensation in case of violations.

Polish, Turkish and British companies and investors have also taken a
separate legal action, the source said.

The four share-holders, who include Ampal (American Israel Corporation),
Thailand's state-owned PTT, the Israel-based Merhav Group, and US firm EGI,
have previously brought cases against Egypt at the International Chamber of
Commerce in Switzerland.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

#2 Egypt resumes gas deliveries to Israel

The resumption of Egyptian gas deliveries should lower, or at least delay, a
pending 5% electricity rate hike.
23 October 11 17:12, Amiram Barkat Globes
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000691666&fid=1725

The Ministry of National Infrastructures has announced that Egypt has
resumed natural gas deliveries to Israel. Deliveries began gradually on
Thursday night, beginning with small quantities to test the pipeline, with
continuous flow beginning later. Deliveries to Israel began after Egypt
resumed deliveries to Jordan last week.

The resumption of Egyptian gas deliveries should lower, or at least delay a
pending 5% electricity rate hike.

The quantity of gas deliveries is still not clear. During this year, Egypt's
gas deliveries have been just 30% of the contractual amounts.

Egypt's natural gas pipelines and facilities in Sinai have been attacked
several times this year by Bedouin hostile to the Egyptian government. The
latest attack was in September. Gas deliveries to Israel were halted
altogether after an attack in July. The first attack in February came
shortly after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power.

Egypt supplies 40% of the gas needs of Israel Electric Corporation (IEC)
(TASE: ELEC.B22). The lack of Egyptian gas forced the Public Utilities
Authority (Electricity) to raise electricity rates by almost 10% in July,
and another price hike is due next month.

Egypt supplies gas to Israel via East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) in
which Yosef Maiman owns 20.6% through Ampal-American Israel Corporation
(Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL) and his private company Merhav Group