Egypt plans to relaunch natural gas supplies to Lebanon in late March in order to ease an acute energy crisis in the country, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, said at a conference on Tuesday.

"There is certain progress in preparation to relaunch Egyptian gas export to Lebanon. We will begin gas supplies in a few weeks. I don't see any problems with it. It's just formalities and paperwork, which must be accomplished in the next few weeks, and we will see Egyptian gas in Lebanon soon," El-Molla said.

Engineers need 3 or 4 weeks to repair the pipelines, which have not used for 7-8 years, according to El-Molla.

Egyptian gas imports to Lebanon are supposed to increase the country's electricity supply time by four hours.

Last January, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib visited the United States to negotiate on Egyptian gas supplies through Syrian territory. Washington agreed to make an exception despite anti-Syria sanctions.

Amid severe economic meltdown, Lebanon has not been able to provide fuel for power plants, leaving the country without electricity for up to 20-22 hours a day. The situation has hindered the functioning of state institutions, hospitals and factories.

In 2019, former US President Donald Trump signed the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which sanctioned the Syrian government as well as many Syrian energy and infrastructure industries. The act also imposes sanctions on countries dealing with Damascus.