Lebanon’s gas contract with Egypt awaits US approval – The National

Lebanon’s gas contract with Egypt awaits US approval – The National

Lebanon is scheduled to sign a deal with Egypt in Beirut on Tuesday to import gas for electricity generation but the contract needs to be examined by the US Treasury to determine whether it breaches sanctions before Cairo opens the taps.

The 10-year contract is part of a US-backed arrangement to supply electricity to power-starved Lebanon. The deal with Egypt, which is expected to allow Lebanon to generate four more hours of electricity a day, is due to be followed in the near future by a second contract to purchase electricity from Jordan.

But US sanctions on Syria, with whom Lebanon shares its only open land border, have complicated the deal.