A gas rig off Israel’s coast. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

JNS.org – Royal Dutch Shell is reportedly seeking to purchase natural gas from Israel and Cyprus, and to deliver the gas to Egypt.

Shell is currently in private discussions to purchase natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan offshore field, which will be combined with output from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field and pumped to a plant in Egypt, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Gas deliveries to Egypt would be channeled through a Shell plant pipeline located on the country’s Mediterranean coast.

The Israeli and Cypriot offshore gas fields, together with Egypt’s large Zohr field, could see the region become a hub for natural gas production in Europe’s backyard.

In April, government ministers from Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the European Union signed a joint statement agreeing to collaboratively develop the world’s longest gas pipeline, running undersea between Israel and Italy.

The agreement boosted Israel’s position as “a significant player in the international energy economy,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said at the time.