Israel and Egypt signed an agreement to supply gas from Israeli gas fields to the North African country. The announcement comes before Leviathan, Israel’s largest offshore gas field in the Mediterranean, will start commercial production at the end of the month. Delek Group Ltd and the American Nobel Energy Inc, both partners in the exploration of the gas fields, agreed in October to boost the supply to Egypt to 85.3 billion of cubic metres over 15 years for a cost of $15 billion. 60 billion of cubic metres will be pumped from Leviathan while the remaining 25 will be pumped from Tamar gas field. The gas is intended both for domestic consumption in Egypt and for liquefaction for export to other markets by using the already existing facilities in the north of Egypt. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz qualified the deal as the “most significant cooperation project between both countries since they signed the peace deal in 1979”. Israel already exports small amounts of natural gas to the Palestinians and Jordan, with which it has signed a gas export deal that should enter into force in January 2020. In January 2019, Egypt hosted the first regional gas forum, perceived by some observers as a way to curtail interests of countries such as Turkey and Iran in the Eastern Mediterranean.