Egypt Says No Gas deals with Israel until arbitration cases resolved

Egypt will not issue permits to companies to import natural gas from Israel as long as arbitration cases with its neighbor remain unresolved, Egypt’s energy minister said on Monday.
Energy Minister Tarek el-Molla said for new Israeli import deals to be signed these arbitration cases would have to be resolved and the deal would have to “add value.”
In 2015, the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Egypt to pay $2 billion in compensation after a deal to export gas to Israel via pipeline collapsed in 2012 due to attacks by insurgents in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Egypt, which has turned from a gas exporter to a net importer, is challenging that order through arbitration.