Based on a government official, Al Arabiya Business stated that the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources will receive two shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Port of Sokhna during the next ten days, with a capacity of about 145,000 tonnes for each.
Media reports also stated that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has already received shipments of LNG totalling over 213,000 tonnes, which it processed and connected to the country’s gas network.
In July 2024, he disclosed, EGAS received two shipments of LNG totalling 143,000 tonnes and one additional shipment of 70,000 tons.
The Egyptian government contracted the Hoegh Galleon freighter to convey the latter, according to the source. With this, there will be about 213,000 tons of LNG imported overall.
The official stated that the gas is dispersed in different amounts between power plants and the industrial sector. The official stated that these arriving LNG cargoes are intended for the Port of Ain Sokhna, where they are regasified and injected into the national gas network.
In addition, the source stated recently that the Port of Ain Sokhna received a supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
He went on to say that this LPG, which is made in refineries from butane and propane, was transported on a ship flying the flag of Liberia and is presently being unloaded at the oil docks in the Ain Sokhna region.
To guarantee no interruptions during the summer, the Egyptian government committed an extra USD 1.18 billion in June for LNG and mazut supplies.
Egypt is ramping up LNG imports as its own natural gas production falls and power demand climbs over the summer period, according to industry sources and data.
“Returning to imports would reverse the most populous Arab country’s position as a natural gas exporter in recent years as part of a plan to become a reliable supplier to Europe,” stated a Reuters report.
Egypt’s government has bought at least two LNG cargoes in April 2024 for immediate delivery and is expected to purchase up to 20 over the spring and summer in readiness for increasing power demand, three industry and trading sources told the media outlet.
Egypt, which faces growing demand for gas from its population of 106 million, is expected to buy three cargoes per month between July and October 2024, regional media outlets reported.
“The government has been seeking a regional supply role, selling Egypt’s own gas and re-exporting Israeli gas as LNG to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Although it turned into a net exporter from a net importer after the discovery of the giant Zohr gas field in 2015, there have been few large discoveries since and production at the field has fallen partially because of water infiltration issues,” analysts and industry sources noted.
Hamdy Abdelaziz, a spokesman at Egypt’s petroleum ministry, recently noted that the LNG production drop was due to the “natural decline of discovered wells,” adding that this is expected to be offset by new wells being drilled in the field.
In 2023, Egypt’s total natural gas production fell to its lowest since 2017, figures from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) show. Gas production in 2023 was around 59.29 billion cubic metres (bcm), falling 11.5% year-on-year to the lowest production level since 2017, when it was around 50.72 bcm.
Egypt has also begun a USD 1.8 billion programme to drill natural gas exploration wells in the Mediterranean Sea and Nile Delta, with the aim of drilling 35 in two years. The country, however, suffered a wave of rolling blackouts last summer, after enjoying a decade of reliable power supplies.
Power cuts have remained in place since, except for a temporary halt during Ramadan and are widely expected to continue throughout the summer.