It could have happened because of the coronavirus pandemic, or perhaps because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to annex West Bank settlements. Regardless of the reason, observers anticipated that economic relations between Israel and Egypt and various other Arab states would begin to suffer and that this would impact natural gas exports.

At this stage, however, economic ties between Israel and Egypt have not suffered in the least, and agreements to export Israeli gas to be liquefied in Egyptian facilities are being implemented fully.

The first agreement to sell Israeli gas to Egypt was signed two years ago. The signatories were the gas partnerships in the Leviathan and Tamar fields, Israel’s two biggest fields, right off the coast, and the Egyptian Dolphinus consortium. The total value of the agreement was $15 billion over 10 years. An agreement signed in October 2019 increased the supply of gas to $20 billion, for a period of 15 years.

Gas began to flow to Egypt in January of this year through a pipeline that begins in the southern town of Ashkelon. In June, Nobel Energy, which is part owner of the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields, upgraded the pipeline connecting Israel to Egypt. This increased the export potential to Egyptian industrial concerns to 4.5 billion cubic meters.