East Med Gas to sue Egypt over pipeline bombings

After repeated attacks have sabotaged the gas flow between from Egypt and Israel, shareholders of East Mediterranean Gas Company, the Cairo-based energy company that delivers natural gas to Israel, plan to take legal action against the Egyptian government, seeking for more than $8 billion in damages.

The pipeline has been bombed four times since February, the first attack occurring during the time of the mass uprisings that toppled longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The explosions have heavily interrupted gas shipments to Israel. Customarily, the pipeline provides about 40 percent of Israel’s natural gas supplies. But since the attacks, it is said that even at times of quiet the shipments have only been able to offer 30 to 40 percent of the normal pipeline capacity.