Snam on December 1 finalized a deal to acquire a 25% stake in the PTT Energy-owned East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), a press release published on the company's website revealed.

East Mediterranean Gas Company is the owner of the Arish-Ashkelon gas pipeline, which is part of the "Peace Gas Pipeline" for consideration of approximately $50 million.

The 90km-long undersea Arish-Ashkelon pipeline connects the Israeli terminal of Ashkelon to the receiving Egyptian station of Al-Arish, with a daily transmission capacity of 12 million cubic meters of gas, which is expected to increase further.

Arish-Ashkelon pipeline was built in 2008 to begin transporting natural gas from Egypt to Israel. However, in 2020, the pipeline turned into one of the major sources of Egypt's energy supply, receiving a massive amount of gas from the Israeli offshore gas fields of Tamar and Leviathan.

While EMED is the main shareholder of EMG with a 39% stake, Israeli Delek Drilling and Chevron Group also run the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields and have equity investments in the company. Due to the growth in natural gas consumption, the pipeline company serves a market characterized by an annual 8% increase in demand due to the ever-growing natural gas consumption.

The acquisition of a significant stake in the Ashkelon-Arish gas pipeline network marks Snam's significant entrance into the Eastern Mediterranean, an area expected to benefit largely from the growing gas demand and energy transition initiatives.