The Egyptian media reports that the Cairo Court for Urgent Cases has overturned a ruling made by the Administrative Court to ban exportation of Egyptian natural gas to Israel. The court made its ruling based on a petition from Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Ministries of Petroleum and Finance, which argued that the issue was an economic transaction that did not require approval of Parliament.
The court upheld a January 2009 ruling by the Egyptian Supreme Court in favor of the sales, a ruling that was later overturned by the Administrative Court. The court argued that the export of gas fell solely under the jurisdiction of the state and neither the courts nor the State Council could rule on it. The case has been referred to the courts several times.
As the case wound its way through the Egyptian courts, gas deliveries to Israel continued normally, although at a reduced rate. East Mediterranean Gas Co. (EMG) currently provides 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22), two-thirds of the amount stipulated in the contract between the companies signed in 2005.
Egyptian businessman Hussain Salem owns 28% of EMG, the Egyptian National Gas Company owns 10%, Thai energy giant PTT Public Co. Ltd. owns 25%, Joseph Maiman owns 20% through Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL) and his private company Merhav MNF Ltd., and Israeli institutional investors own 4.4%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 5, 2009
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