Syria-Lebanon for speeding up gas cooperation
Syria-Lebanon, Economics, 4/14/1999

Syrian and Lebanese oil ministers on Tuesday discussed means and ways of seeding up the supply of 1. 1 billion cubic meters of Syrian gas per year to feed the Lebanese power plants.

Officials in Damascus said that the Syrian Minister of oil Muhammad Maher Jamal and the Lebanese Suleiman al-Trabulsi agreed to give Lebanon's Electricity Authority a mandate to award the project to one of the international firms which have submitted bids, SANA.

One official in Damascus said that "the two ministers reviewed a report prepared by the Joint Syrian- Lebanese technical committee on the gas supply and agreed to entrust the board of directors of Lebanon's Electricity Authority with a review of efforts presented by international companies and to take appropriate decisions."

This pilot project, approved previously by Syria and Lebanon, includes construction of a pipeline and pumping stations to carry the Syrian gas to the Lebanese power generating plants.

The gas would be shipped from a gas collection plant in Horns, some 160 Kin north of Damascus to the Lebanese Badawi electricity plants near the Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli.

The gas would then be directed to the al-Zahrani electricity generation plant south of the Lebanese port city of Sidon, the officials said. Each of the plants, has a generation capacity of 450 megawatt. Lebanese and Syrian oil industry sources said the pipeline would carry initially three million cubic meters of Syrian gas per day and the amount could be increased in accordance with the needs of Lebanon.

The officials said the Syrian and Lebanese ministers discussed during their talks on Tuesday the possibilities of co-operation in the exploration process of oil and gas in Lebanon through the Syrian Petroleum Company SPC which has good experience in exploration and production of oil and gas. The officials added the two ministers met with Syrian prime Minister Mahmoud al-Zou'bi later in the day on Tuesday and briefed him on the outcome of their talks.

Syria has an agreement with its Arab neighbor calling for co-operation in all economic, military and political fields.

Previous Stories:
  Syrian - Lebanese economic cooperation focus on concrete results, set up joint companies   (3/2/1999)
  Economic relations between Syria, Lebanon highlighted   (3/1/1999)
  Syria, Lebanon sign sea trade agreement   (2/23/1999)

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