EU nations seeking to reduce their reliance on

Russian gas because of the war in Ukraine may

soon be able to source supplies from Israel

instead.

On Wednesday, the EU, Israel and Egypt signed

provisional natural gas export deal at an energy

conference in Cairo.

The Israeli gas is expected to be sent to

liquefaction plants in Egypt, then shipped north

to markets in Europe.

Israel's energy ministry said it would allow

significant exports of Israeli gas to Europe for

the first time.

Under the framework agreement, the EU will

also encourage European companies to take

part in Israeli and Egyptian exploration tenders,

the ministry said.

Officials said exports of liquefied natural gas

(LNG) to Europe were likely to rise under the

deal, but it would probably take a couple of

years before shipments could be expanded.

The EU imported about 40% of its gas from

Russia last year and is expected to remain a big

gas consumer until about 2030.

After that, it will seek to use less gas, with the

aim of achieving zero-emission status by 2050.

The memorandum of understanding was signed

by Israel's Energy Minister, Karine Elharrar, along

with Egypt's Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El

Molla, and the EU's Energy Commissioner, Kadri

Simson.

"Today Egypt and Israel make a commitment

to share our natural gas with Europe and to

help with the energy crisis," said Ms Elharrar

afterwards.

European Commission President Ursula von der

Leyen, who was also there, described it as "a big

step forward in the energy supply to Europe".

"l see it as a first step leading to a

Mediterranean-wide agreement, because I see

that the energy supplies, [which] were mostly

traditionally in the northern part, now are

shifting towards the global south and east," she

added.