According to reports, Egypt aims to boost liquefied natural gas exports by restarting one of its two production plants.
Specifically, Bloomberg cites Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla, who informed that the Damietta facility will reopen by the end of February. The facility will process approximately 4.5 million tons of LNG a year and raise the nation’s capacity to 12.5 million tons, he added.
The reopening of Damietta facility will mark the revival of Egypt as an LNG player.
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El-Molla added that in 2020, the prices were very low and they were not able to export except for a few cargoes. Yet, from October until now, things changed, as their volumes that are to be exported from the Idku plant are already booked unti the end of March.
Moreover, Egypt plans to use its position on Europe’s doorstep to become a major supplier to the continent, which is transitioning away from dirtier fossil fuels such as oil and coal. Egypt will ship gas from its own giant field of Zohr, as well as some imported from Israel.
Bloomberg reports that although the Arab nation accounts for abour 1% of global LNG supplies in 2019, with the reopening of the facility, it is expected to be among the top 10 exporters if it reaches full capacity.
