Egypt, Cyprus moving ahead with plans for LNG import agreement: Cairo and Nicosia appear to be moving ahead in their plans to connect Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to one of Egypt’s two liquefaction plants in Idku and Damietta. Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said yesterday that Turkish “provocations” would not deter his country from pressing ahead with plans for East-Med gas exploration, particularly since it could set a precedent for delivering gas from the region to Europe, the Associated Press reports. Officials from Cyprus and Egypt have made “significant progress” on setting the terms of their agreement for a connecting pipeline and are expecting to hear the EU’s response on their preliminary framework within a few weeks. “We remain committed to both the Egyptian government and also our partners both here in Cyprus and in Egypt to try to find a conclusion in what is a very difficult equation, considering the outside conditions in the market, both in terms of international prices of oil but also in terms of the rather hostile nature of development of the Aphrodite field because of the technical circumstances in the depth of the water,” Lakkotrypis said.