An explosion has gone off at a gas compressor station in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula, triggering a huge fire along the gas pipeline, Egyptian media and witnesses said.
State TV said the explosion was the result of an attack, but provided no further details. The report could not be confirmed independently.
The blast went off at a gas compressor station near the Sinai town of el-Arish, several hundred yards away from the local airport, witnesses said. From the compressor station, gas pipelines run to Jordan and Israel.
El-Arish is about 44 miles from the Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and it was not known if gas exports to Israel and Jordan have been discontinued because of the explosion.
The gas pipeline has come under attack in the past.
Bedouin tribesmen of the Sinai Peninsula attempted to blow up the pipeline last July as tensions intensified between them and the Egyptian government, which they accuse of discrimination and of ignoring their plight.
Neighbouring Israel relies on the gas pipeline to meet its energy needs and spends billions to bring natural gas from Egypt.
The governor of the region, Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, said he suspected “sabotage”, but provided no details.
Mr Mabrouk told Egypt’s Nile News TV that the fire was brought under control by mid-morning, after valves allowing the flow of gas from the terminal into pipelines were shut off.
Israeli officials said it was not clear whether the explosion affected the pipeline leading to Israel.
“At this stage, the gas supply to Israel was stopped according to procedure in emergency scenarios,” said Chen Ben Lulu, spokesman for Israel’s Infrastructure Ministry. “We are not sure what caused the explosion.”
Egypt has potential natural gas reserves of 1.7 trillion cubic metres, the 18th largest in the world.
It began providing Israel with natural gas in February 2008 under a deal by which it will sell Israel 1.7 billion cubic metres a year for a period of 15 years.
The deal raised controversy, with some in the Egyptian opposition saying the gas was being sold at below-market rates.
AP