Egypt could be ready to start pumping natural gas to crisis-stricken Lebanon within the next three weeks, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi on Saturday (watch, runtime: 1:20).

Egypt agreed last week to ship gas to Lebanon through a pipeline running through Jordan and Syria to lessen the energy crisis currently gripping the country, whose devastating economic crisis has resulted in chronic fuel and electricity shortages.

“As soon as possible”: El Molla said at the time that vital maintenance work and outstanding contractual issues meant that the gas couldn’t be sent immediately but that he hoped it could start “as soon as possible.” But on Saturday the minister told El Hadidi that these issues could be solved within just three weeks, allowing Egyptian gas to be delivered to a power plant in northern Lebanon and providing an estimated 450 MW of power. The 20-year-old pipeline has been offline for more than a decade and has suffered damage through Syria’s civil war.