Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson expressed hope that Egypt will maintain the level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the EU.
Speaking on the sidelines of an energy conference in Egypt, she noted that the EC expects the country to maintain “relatively high volumes” of LNG exports to the bloc, according to Reuters reported on Monday.
“We do expect that, with the help of this MoU [memorandum of understanding], Egypt can keep” supplying the EU with as much LNG as it did last year, Simson reiterated.
The memorandum was signed in June last year with the aim of increasing the volume of Israeli natural gas piped to liquefaction plants in Egypt and then shipped to the EU.
Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla pointed out that the country is planning to produce approximately 7.5 million tonnes of LNG in 2023, comparable to levels from 2022.
He reminded that Egypt shipped roughly 80% of its LNG to the EU last year and noted that liquefaction plants are not operating at full capacity.
“They are there prepared for the time when we make the decision to increase their capacity to double or triple,” he concluded.
Egypt as a regional energy hub
Egypt has been trying to position itself as a regional energy hub with the help of production from its natural gas fields, imports from Israel, and two LNG plants.
However, infrastructure constraints and rising domestic demand have limited the volume of natural gas for export.
Commenting on these limitations, Simson stressed “now we have to solve some of the bottlenecks.”
According to officials, Egypt will need time to expand its export capacity under the agreement with Israel and the EU.
An industry source pointed out that existing LNG plants will have to be modified or new production chains set up to allow Egypt to increase exports. Answering to a reporter who asked how much LNG Egypt would export under the agreement, Simson noted “it depends on national decisions… we see that there is spare capacity in liquefaction facilities here in Egypt, but exact volumes were not part of our memorandum of understanding.”
