The Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO) has said that the gas supply to fellow Arab countries and Israel remains intact after a failed attempt to blow up a pipeline in northern Sinai.

Six armed men stormed the gas terminal in the town of Al-Sabeel at dawn on Sunday, placing explosive devices there that failed to detonate.

“There is no interruption to the gas supply, the flow is normal. There is no stoppage,” GASCO Chairman Magdy Tawfiq said a few hours after the attack.“The armed forces in that site have been strengthened by new soldiers to secure the pipeline.”

GASCO owns a metering station that is responsible for transporting gas to Israel and Jordan.Last month attackers used explosives against the same pipeline, cutting off the gas supply to Jordan and Israel for more than a month.

Egypt’s gas deal with Israel has drawn widespread criticism in the country while the matter became more controversial following January’s popular uprising that forced former President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said recently that the cabinet would reconsider the deal which analysts say allows Israel to buy Egyptian natural gas for far below market prices.

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