EU to begin Egypt gas import at end-2018, investment chief says

Europe will begin importing natural gas from Egypt at the end of this year in line with Egyptian government’s plans to achieve self-sufficiency in gas, head of Egyptian energy association said on Sunday.

The recent significant gas discoveries have been a boon to Egypt as the country would be to meet domestic demand and become a key exporter of energy in the region and beyond. Egyptian government hopes to stop importing foreign oil and gas entirely by 2019.

“A self-sufficiency in gas will leave Egypt with a surplus for exports that nears one billion cubic feet,” Mohamed Saad El-din, chairperson of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Investors Association, said.

Egyptian government seeks to boost gas production to 6.75 million cubic feet per day at the end of the current year through having the new gas fields such as the super-giant Zohr and others entering actual production.

Egypt exported gas until 2014 but had to forego those sales to meet local demand and because sporadic sabotage attacks on its main pipeline in the Sinai Desert throttled shipments. However, Eni’s discovery of Zohr in August 2015 promises to satisfy much of this local demand and may even transform the country back into a gas supplier in the eastern Mediterranean region.