The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is considering importing more than 15 new Liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments through international suppliers for delivery during 2025.
Al-Arabiya Business reported a government official as saying that the new shipments could be secured through negotiating with major suppliers previously engaged in the process to secure the sector’s LNG needs.
Egypt is seeking to regularly issue tenders for LNG imports until domestic production returns to self-sufficiency in the coming years.
The Egyptian government is working to accelerate the development of gas production and access new deep-water gas reservoirs in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean to maximize domestic production.
The official indicated that the new LNG contracts will be for the country’s consumption during the summer months, specifically for fossil fuel-fired power plants.
He continued that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) is continuing its external LNG contracts and regasification in Egypt to bridge the gap between production and consumption, estimated at more than 1.5 billion cubic feet per day on average.
The source added that gas consumption forecasts for the second half of 2025 range between 6.3-6.4 billion cubic feet per day across various consumer sectors.
The official pointed to the joint coordination between EGAS and the Ministry of Electricity to determine the monthly needs for power plants during the second quarter of the year.
Field Development Programs
According to the official, the development programs currently underway in Egyptian gas fields, in coordination with foreign partners, have contributed to increasing domestic production by between 200-250 million cubic feet of gas per day during the first half of the year.
Earlier in February, Reuters reported trade sources as saying that Egypt had signed two agreements with Shell and TotalEnergies worth three billion to purchase 60 shipments of liquefied natural gas during the current year.
On the other hand, the joint energy database showed that Egypt’s natural gas production declined by 16.7 percent in 2024, reaching 49.4 billion cubic meters, compared to 59.3 billion cubic meters in 2023.
Consumption increased by 1.1 percent to 62.5 billion cubic meters, and Egypt resorted to increasing gas imports by 70 percent to compensate for the production shortfall.
Its imports reached 14.6 billion cubic meters, including liquefied and dry gas.
