Egypt has reached mid-term agreements with several energy companies, including Saudi Aramco, to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the government seeks to meet the rising power demand and alleviate the frustrations and economic losses caused by persistent blackouts throughout the country.
Agreements have been reached with global energy companies and trading houses, including Saudi Aramco, Shell, Vitol, Trafigura, BGN, SOCAR, and PetroChina. Bloomberg also added London-based Hartree Partners to that list.
Both Reuters and Bloomberg reported the story, but since the Egyptian government had not confirmed the numbers, there were discrepancies.
Reuters said between 50 and 60 cargoes will be used to cover this year’s demand – on top of 75 cargoes purchased earlier this year – while the rest will be delivered through the end of 2026. This would result in a total of 235 cargoes for this year and next, costing Egypt a total of US$8 billion.
Egypt secures major LNG supply deal
Bloomberg said that Egypt agreed to purchase LNG over a two-and-a-half-year period, and that the deals will bring in as many as 290 cargoes over the period, starting next month.
The world’s most populous Arab country, which has been struggling with a currency crisis, has endured power issues over the past two years as natural gas supply fell short of demand. After years of being an exporter, it became a net importer of gas last year.
The country’s Ministry of Petroleum, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, and the companies involved did not immediately respond to the two agencies’ request for comments.
Reuters said the cargoes were priced at a premium of $0.70-$0.75 above the gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, with a nine-month deferred payment.
Bloomberg reported only 180 days (six months) for deferred payment for the cargoes priced at a premium to the European gas benchmark of about 80-95 cents per million British thermal units.
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