Egypt again halts gas supply to Israel following explosion

Egypt has again shut off its gas supply to Israel following an explosion on its pipeline in the Sinai.

The explosion early Wednesday morning rocked the area and caused 65-foot flames, according to reports.

While Egyptian officials would not speculate on the cause of the blast, a security source told Reuters that an unidentified armed gang attacked the pipeline.

Egypt supplies Israel with about 40 percent of the natural gas the country needs to produce electricity. The supply of gas from Egypt was shut off for a month and has not returned to full levels since terrorists in the Sinai tried to blow up the pipeline in February during the uprisings against deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in. On March 27 terrorists failed in a second attempt to bomb the pipeline after explosives failed to detonate.

Israeli officials on Wednesday called for the country to find ways to reduce its dependency on other countries for gas, and urged the government to quickly develop newly found gas fields off the coast of Israel.

Israel Electric Company said it had enough gas in the pipeline for the next few days and then would switch to alternative fuels such as coal and diesel to produce electricity.

The supply of gas to Jordan was also interrupted.

The pipeline between Egypt and Israel opened in 2008. Selling gas to Israel was unpopular on the Egyptian street from the time the pipeline opened.

Egyptian authorities have extended Mubarak’s detention to question him regarding the gas deal with Israel, in which Egypt lost more than $714 million, Egyptian prosecutors say. Candidates to replace Mubarak have said they plan to renegotiate the contract with Israel.