DUBAI (Reuters) – Egypt, which has struggled with declining domestic gas production, plans to lease a German floating gas liquefaction unit, the Egyptian petroleum ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has been seeking to ramp up production at its giant Zohr offshore gas field, in a bid to cover rising domestic demand during the summer heat.
Zohr’s operator Eni has resumed drilling last month after output dropped in the largest gas field found in the Mediterranean to 1.9 billion cubic feet per day in early 2024, well below the peak reached in 2019.
Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi discussed the leasing plans of a unit currently in Germany’s Baltic Sea terminal of Mukran with Philipp Steinberg, the German director-general for economic stabilization, energy Security, gas, and hydrogen infrastructure on the sidelines of CERAWeek energy conference held in Houston, Texas.
The two also discussed Germany’s possible purchase of Cypriot gas that flows through Egypt’s liquefaction facilities for re-export to Europe, the ministry added.
Egypt will send a delegation to Berlin this month to complete the contractual provisions.
Egypt and Cyprus signed agreements last month to enable the export of gas from Cyprus’s offshore fields via Egypt as both countries seek to bolster the Eastern Mediterranean’s role as an energy hub.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Editing by Louise Heavens)
