Masked gunmen cut flow of natural gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan

Masked gunmen set off a fiery explosion at a natural gas terminal in Egypt early Wednesday, cutting off the flow of fuel to Israel and Jordan.

It was the second time in a month that armed bands attacked the el-Sabil terminal on the Sinai peninsula. An earlier attack fizzled when the explosives the gunmen planted failed to ignite, according to New York Daily News.

"Unidentified attackers bombed the station around dawn," Hamdi Abdel Aziz, a ministry spokesman, said by telephone today in Cairo. "Exports to Israel and Jordan were halted as were supplies to the local market."

Officials did not say how soon Egypt might be able to resume shipments. Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, the governor of North Sinai province where the attack occurred, said the necessary repairs "will take time," offering no details.

A spokesman for Jordan's Energy Ministry said the work needed to restore gas exports to his country would take one week. Jordan has been forced by the suspension to switch to alternative fuels at a cost of 3 million dinars ($4.2 million) a day, Mahmoud al-Ees said by telephone from Amman, Bloomberg reports.