The new agreement in principle, reached at a meeting in Cairo on 22 March, follows an earlier memorandum of understanding in February. Under this, Egypt agreed to supply 2-4bn cum/yr of gas to Turkey, and an additional 2-6bn cum/yr to transit to Europe and link-up with the Nabucco pipeline. The first European recipient is likely to be Romania, whose energy minister attended the Cairo meetings. The new agreement sets a timeframe and responsibilities for construction of different sections of the pipeline, and would realize Egypt's long-standing dream of becoming a major supplier of natural gas to Europe by pipeline. Egypt last year launched shipments of LNG to Europe. Industry sources say that by the time Egyptian gas reaches Eastern Europe, Egypt will have paid transit fees to three countries – Jordan, Syria, and Turkey – raising export costs to the point where LNG may be a cheaper option. But Egyptian officials argue that once gas reaches northern Syria, it would be too close to Europe to ignore that market. According to the new agreement, Egyptian companies will build a 30-km section of the pipeline between Jordan's Rihab power station and the Jordan-Syria border. In late December, Jordan and Egypt inaugurated the second phase of the Arab Gas Pipeline, with the completion of a 395-km stretch of pipeline linking the southern Jordanian city of Aqaba to major power stations in Rihab and Samra in northern Jordan. The main Jordanaian section was built on a build-own-operate-transfer basis. The Syria stretch – the third phase of the project – was awarded as a more-straightforward construction contract to Russia's Stroytransgaz. The completion of this phase to Homs in central Syria is programmed for end-2007. Early gas deliveries to Syria would start arriving in March, 2007. The extension of the third phase to Syria's border with Turkey, a 220-km stretch, would be carried out by Syrian, Egyptian, and Turkish companies, it was agreed at the meeting. Turkish state gas pipeline operator Botas will be responsible for building a link, estimated at 90km, from the border to the Turkish gas transmission infrastructure. First gas to Turkey is expected in early 2008. The Arab Gas Pipeline has a design capacity of 10bn cum/yr; about 3.3bn cum/yr has been allocated to Jordan, which is converting power and industrial facilities to gas and planning a residential distribution network. A further 2bn cum/yr has been assigned to Syria and Lebanon. A pipeline from Homs in Syria to the Baddawi power plant in northern Lebanon was completed last year. However, Lebanon's relationship with Syria has become increasingly strained since the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syria's military from its tiny neighbour after almost 20 years. Egypt's proven gas reserves are put at 67tr cuft. Egyptian officials say a further 120tr cuft could be converted from probable to proven reserves. Expansions in LNG projects have been put on hold until further discoveries are made. Egypt insists, however, that it will have enough supplies to pump into the Arab gas pipeline all the way to Europe.