Egypt: Gas discovery spurs drilling in the Mediterranean, Nile Delta - ESI AFRICA

August 30, 2023

Yunus Kemp

Egypt plans to drill 45 natural exploratory gas wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta with $1.9 billion in investments until mid-2025.

This follows the discovery, announced in January, in the Nargis Offshore Area Concession which added reserves of 2.5 trillion cubic feet. The discovery is located in the Eastern Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast.

The Narges 1 well was drilled to a depth of 309 metres and has an estimated volume of reserves amounting to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Egyptian government said.

“This has contributed to the interest of a number of international companies to develop the field and work on more explorations the government said.

The discovery of the new gas field comes at a time when Egypt is seeking to increase its gas reserves and exports for which demand has grown worldwide.

EGAS Exports 33.9 bcf of Natural Gas to Jordan in FY 2019/20 - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Monday, 28th December 2020

The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) exported about 33.9 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas to Jordan through the Arab Gas pipeline in the fiscal year (FY) 2019/20.

The company also highlighted that the exported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Idku gas liquefaction plant reached about 120 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent (bcfe) through 33 LNG shipments.

The company also stated that the national plan of natural gas households’ delivery has been amended from 1 million housing units to 1.1 million units. It added that its targeted plan in FY 2020/21 is to deliver natural gas to 100 industrial and 1000 commercial facilities.

Egypt officially became a net exporter of LNG last year, bringing our gas hub ambitions ever closer - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 16 February 2020

Egypt officially became a net exporter of LNG last year, bringing our gas hub ambitions ever closer: Egypt’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell to zero in 2019 and exported USD 1.24 bn-worth of LNG, marking a nearly 150% y-o-y increase, according to Capmas figures released on Thursday. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had been saying since 2018 that Egypt’s LNG imports would come to an end as of October of that year, and that Egypt would begin exports by January 2019 as more output from gas fields is connected to the national grid. Crude oil and butane gas imports also dropped last year, while exports of petroleum products rose 4.5% y-o-y to reach USD 4.9 mn.

Egypt exported 172.8 bncf of natgas in FY 2018-2019 via 45 cargos from Idku - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

Egypt exported 45 cargos of natural gas carrying a total of 172.8 bcf from the Idku liquefaction plant in FY2018-2019, according to the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). 

Egypt had hoped that returning Idku to full capacity would see exports increase to 1.13 bcf/d, but EGAS canceled several LNG tenders from the facility due to low bids and growing domestic demand. 

Idku’s natural gas exports fell by 80% between August and mid-October.

Numbers about natural gas activities in Egypt - EGYPT TODAY

Tue, Sep. 24, 2019

CAIRO – 24 September 2019: Egypt has put a number of gas fields on the map of production during the last period, which was reflected on the rates of gas production in September to hit 7.2 billion cubic feet per day.

The following are the most important figures that drew the map of natural gas activity in the last period:

1. Launching an international tender for oil and gas exploration in 10 sectors in the Red sea.
2. Signing Noor Marine Agreement, with investments of research and exploration amounting to about $85 million.
3. The value of investments in the field of research, development and operation of natural gas activity reached about $3.7 billion during 2018/2019.
4. Egypt's natural gas production has risen to unprecedented rates.

EGAS Offers Six LNG Cargoes from Idku Plant - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 22nd September 2019

Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has offered six Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) loading cargoes from the Idku plant during the period between October to November 2019, Reuters quoted two industry sources saying.

The cargoes are offered on the basis of a Free-On-Board (FOB) for loading between October 5th, 2019 and November 1st, 2019.

EGAS was founded in Egypt in 2001, as an entity mandated to focus on the natural gas activities to organize and handle the activities of the natural gas resources of Egypt to add value to the Egyptian economy.

EMG gas pipeline to Egypt passes flow tests, targets end-year startup - PLATTS

01 Jul 2019 | 16:32 UTC
Lucie Roux, Editor: James Burgess

London — East Mediterranean Gas has successfully completed gas flow tests from Tamar's field in Israel, and exports to Egypt are expected to start by the end of the year, Israeli partner Delek Drilling said Monday.

"Today's announcement confirms that the technical side is now complete and the pipeline is now ready to handle up to 7 Bcm a year," a spokesman from Delek told S&P Global Platts.

Exports via EMG, together with the incremental production from BP's West Nile Delta and Eni's Zohr projects, should allow Egypt boost its LNG exports by the end of 2019.

The project's partners -- US-based producer Noble Energy, Delek Drilling and Egyptian-owned Sphinx EG -- have been working to bring the EMG back into service, with a reverse flow capability from the Leviathan field to Egypt, the spokesman said.

Egypt wants to almost quadruple the value of natural gas exports to USD 2 bn in FY2019-2020 - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 1 July 2019

Egypt wants to almost quadruple the value of natural gas exports to USD 2 bn in FY2019-2020: The government is looking to export 12 mn tonnes of natural gas worth USD 2 bn in FY2019-2020, compared to USD 580 mn in the past year, the local press reported, citing an unnamed EGAS source. Egypt is seeking to increase average daily exports to 1.56 bcf/d through LNG terminals in Idku and Damietta, and the Jordan pipeline. Natural gas exports averaged 500 mcf/d in FY2018-2019.

Higher gas production equals more gas to export: Additional gas flows from Zohr and other fields in the Mediterranean will allow energy companies to meet their supply obligations for the government and export the surplus, the official said.

Egypt committed to working with US, highest standards in gas projects - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

El Sisi meets with Noble Energy boss, says Egypt is committed to strengthening ties with the US: A meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Noble Energy CEO David Stover tops the front pages of Al Ahram, Al Akhbar and Al Gomhuria this morning. El Sisi used the occasion to reaffirm Egypt’s commitment to strengthening strategic ties with the US and said the country was following the highest standards in its gas exploration and production projects.

Other coverage of the story: Noble, which is helping lead the charge to develop Israeli gas fields and sell the offtake to Egypt, is interested in a helping build a gas pipeline between Egypt and Cyprus, an unnamed Oil Ministry source told Youm7. No further details were provided on the company’s plans. Egypt and Cyprus signed an agreement last year, which would allow natural gas from the Aphrodite gas field to be transported to Egypt’s liquefaction facilities at Idku and Damietta, and re-exported as liquefied natural gas.

Egypt to tender four LNG cargoes in April as it aims to become regional gas hub - THE NATIONAL / FORBES

March 15, 2019 04:33 PMSagging domestic production had forced the North African state to halt most exports of LNG in 2014

Egypt indicated it’s ready to rejoin the club of major exporters of liquefied natural gas, making the biggest offer to supply the market in at least five years.

The state gas company EGAS is tendered to sell four cargoes of LNG for loading in April, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The bids are due March 18 and valid until March 25, according to the people, who asked not to be named because details of the tendering process is confidential.

Extra supplies from Egypt would hit a market already battling with spot prices for the super-chilled fuel trading at the lowest level since July 2017 following a mild winter that curbed demand across Europe and Asia. The US, Russia and Australia all are contributing to a glut, starting new plants to export the fuel and build market share.

International hydrocarbons interest in Cyprus confirmed - CYPRUS MAIL

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

The biggest and most important hydrocarbons conference and exhibition in Egypt and the East Med region, EGYPS 2019, took place in Cairo earlier this month, and Cyprus took part with a country pavilion showing the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) and natural gas public company (DEFA) among others.

In a wide-ranging interview about the conference, Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla spoke about the country’s oil and gas achievements in 2018 and plans for 2019. The great success of 2018 was accelerating natural gas production, with Zohr at the forefront, as a result of which, by the end of the year, domestic gas consumption was exceeded for the first time since 2014. This helped Egypt become self-sufficient, stop LNG imports in October and re-start exports. By January Shell’s Idku LNG plant was exporting 0.52 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d).

The development of Zohr is reaching its final stage, and is expected to achieve 3.2 bcf/d plateau production by the end of 2019. This will allow the Damietta LNG plant to restart exports later in the year, once outstanding arbitration issues are resolved.

Parliament committee approves gas pipeline construction between Egypt, Cyprus - EGYPT INDEPENDENT / AL-MASRY AL-YOUM

January 27, 2019, 1:49 pm

The Energy and Environment Committee of the House of Representatives on Sunday approved a presidential decree on an agreement between Egypt and Cyprus to build a direct natural gas pipeline, which was signed in Nicosia on September 19, 2018.

The agreement aims to facilitate the export of natural gas from Cyprus to Egypt through the establishment and operation of a direct sea pipeline from the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, to natural gas liquefaction plants in Idku or Damietta in Egypt.

Mohamed Samir, member of the technical bureau of the Petroleum Ministry, said during the committee’s meeting that the ministry is working in full swing to turn Egypt into a regional center for natural gas trading.

Samir added that negotiations for the agreement lasted three years, and will encourage investors as it marks the beginning of further contracts and agreements to neighboring countries.

Head of the committee Talat al-Sewedy said that the agreement is very important as Cyprus is a gate for Egypt to export gas to EU countries.

Egypt exporting 520 mln cubic feet of LNG per day from Idku plant - official - REUTERS

JANUARY 2, 2019 / 11:03 AM

CAIRO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Egypt is currently exporting 520 million cubic feet of liquified natural gas (LNG) per day from its Idku export plant, a petroleum ministry official said on Wednesday.

The country had been exporting 300 million cubic feet of LNG, the official said.

The gas is exported by Malaysia’s Petronas, Royal Dutch Shell, and Egypt’s two main state oil and gas companies.

TEKMOR Note: The Idku Natural Gas Liquefaction Company is co-owned by:

• The Egyptian Gas Holding Co 12%
• The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation 12%
• Royal Dutch Shell (via BG acquisition) 38%
• PETRONAS 38%

(Reporting by Ahmed Ismail; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; editing by Louise Heavens)

Shell’s Idku plant steps up LNG exports as winter curbs local consumption - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Royal Dutch Shell’s Idku liquefaction plant has increased exports of natural gas to 500 mcf/d, up from 300 mcf/d previously, a source from EGAS said, attributing the move to a further decline in local consumption levels during winter. 

Just last month, the company increased LNG exports to 300 mcf/d from 250 mcf/d in October. 

Shell and the Oil Ministry had agreed in 2016 to gradually ramp up production at the Idku LNG plant.

Shell processing 300 mcf/d of gas at Idku liquefaction plant -sources - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 12 November 2018

Royal Dutch Shell’s Idku liquefaction plant is reportedly processing 300 mcf/d of natural gas, compared to 250 mcf/d last month, sources close to the matter said yesterday. 

Natural gas earmarked for exports also increased by around 50 mcf/d due to lower local consumption levels during winter. 

Shell and the Oil Ministry had agreed back in 2016 to gradually ramp up production at the Idku LNG plant.