Jordan to host energy meeting to discuss gas supplies to Lebanon

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan will host a meeting of Egypt, Syria and Lebanon’s energy ministers on Wednesday to discuss transportation of Egyptian gas to Lebanon for electricity generation, said state-owned broadcaster Mamlaka.

The United States has been in talks with Egypt and Jordan over a plan to ease Lebanon’s power crisis which involves using Egyptian gas to generate power in Jordan that would be transmitted via Syria. A top level Lebanese delegation went to Damascus on Saturday to pave the way for the U.S.-backed plan to ease the power shortages in Lebanon. [L8N2Q607W]

U.S. sanctions on Damascus are a complicating factor in any effort to help Lebanon via Syria, but diplomats say Washington is looking at ways to urgently deal with those hurdles. With the state floundering, the heavily armed Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah group that is the country’s most powerful political entity, last month announced it was importing fuel oil from Iran, saying it aims to ease the crisis.

Its adversaries have said this further undermined the authority of the state and exposed Lebanon to the risk of U.S. sanctions. Washington designates Hezbollah as a terrorist group.