The Egyptian state has achieved outstanding results in this sector Gaswhere self-sufficiency in natural gas and export abroad has been achieved, as the country adopts a strategy aimed at becoming a regional center for gas trade and circulation, and this strategy is based on Gas export excess of its production.
Egypt exports a large amount of gas
Egypt’s exports of liquefied gas in the first quarter of 2023 maintained their previous levels for the same period last year, despite the decline in the production of some fields.
A report by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed that Egyptian liquefied gas exports during the first quarter of 2023 amounted to about 1.90 million tons.
The report was returned to Hafez Egypt’s gas exports Liquefied in the first quarter of 2023 at its previous rates, to production levels that rose after the development of gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean region, and the quantities Cairo receives from other fields in the region under agreements with foreign companies.
The OPEC report, issued yesterday, Wednesday, May 17, entitled “Developments in Liquefied Natural Gas and Hydrogen during the first quarter of 2023”, prepared by the expert, Eng. liquefied.
Egypt is the only country that has liquefaction stations in the eastern Mediterranean countries, with capacities exceeding 12 million tons annually.
The Egyptian gas liquefaction stations in Damietta and Idku are among the main pillars in the facilities and infrastructure that Egypt possesses for the trade and circulation of natural gas.
According to preliminary estimates by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the gas liquefaction stations in Damietta and Idku exported about 1.44 million tons to European markets (the European Union, Turkey and Britain).
Egypt’s exports of liquefied gas in the first quarter of 2023 to Europe accounted for about 76% of total exports during the period from January to the end of March (2023).
The rest of Egypt’s exports were received by Asian markets liquefied gas in the first quarter of 2023, amounting to about 0.46 million tons, with a share of 24% of the total.
Exporting gas to Europe and Turkey
Turkey topped the list of destinations receiving Egypt’s liquefied gas exports in the first quarter of 2023, with a share of 41%, according to the OAPEC report prepared by Eng. Wael Hamed, followed by other countries. European Union With a share of 24%, equal to the same supplies to the Asian markets, while Britain acquired a share of 11% of Egyptian exports.
And seek Türkiye To enhance its supply of Egyptian liquefied gas through long-term contracts, within the framework of Ankara’s plan to transform it into an international center for its trade.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian-Turkish Businessmen Association (TOMIAD), Nihad Akinji, had confirmed, in statements to the specialized energy platform, that Ankara had asked Cairo to continue selling liquefied gas through long-term contracts.
Egypt’s exports of liquefied gas increased in the last quarter of last year by 13% on an annual basis, recording 2.6 million tons, compared to 2.3 million tons during the same quarter of 2021.
Egypt’s total exports of liquefied gas during 2022 amounted to 7.4 million tons, compared to 6.6 million tons in 2021, which made Egypt achieve a record in gas exports, reaching 8 million tons – including gas exports through pipelines – in 2022, compared to by about 7 million tons in 2021.
The value of Egypt’s gas export revenues amounted to $8.4 billion in 2022 compared to $3.5 billion in 2021, an increase of 140%, due to the increase gas export prices The issue is global.
The first factory in gas exports
Earlier, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the establishment of Damietta liquefaction plant Since its restart in 2021, it has exported 7.2 million tons of natural gas for the first time in the plant’s history.
The ministry confirmed that about 4 million tons of liquefied natural gas were exported in 2022, which is the largest amount exported in the factory’s nearly 20-year history.
The ministry said that this makes it the first plant in Egypt in the field of liquefied natural gas exports and contributes to strengthening Egypt’s role as a regional energy center in the Mediterranean region.
It indicated that about 60% of the total shipments from the Damietta liquefaction plant were exported to Europe.
The ministry revealed the plant’s success in producing and exporting the 500th shipment of liquefied natural gas since it started operating in 2005, which stopped working for a period of eight years before restarting it again in February 2021.
In this regard, Dr. Salah Hafez, the petroleum expert, said that Egypt is working to become a center for exporting energy in general, and gas in particular, because Egypt has an export capacity greater than the domestic need, which is reduced by using alternatives.
For his part, Engineer Medhat Youssef, an international energy expert, said that Egypt has become an important source of natural gas supply to Europe, saying: “Europe is interested in Egypt as a source of natural gas.”t natural gas Because, according to the assessments of international companies, Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean region have very large natural gas deposits that have not yet been discovered.
Egypt is a major player in the global gas market
It is worth noting that Egypt has become a major player in the global gas market, and Egypt ranked 14th globally, fifth regionally, and second in Africa in gas production in 2020.
Egypt maintained the levels of its production and export of natural gas despite the Corona pandemic crisis and its repercussions. In the year 2020/2021, the volume of Egypt’s gas production reached 66.2 billion cubic meters. And consumption is 62.9 billion cubic meters. The surplus is 3.3 billion cubic meters.
30 development projects have been implemented gas fields From July 2014 to September 2021, with a total investment cost of about 514 billion pounds. Egypt’s current annual production capacity of natural gas, thanks to gas field development projects, is 73.4 billion cubic meters.
The most prominent of these projects is the Zohr field development project, with an annual production capacity of 28 billion cubic meters. And the Raven field development project with an annual production capacity of 8.7 billion cubic meters, as well as the Noras field development project with an annual production capacity of 4.6 billion cubic meters.
Egypt succeeded Self-sufficiency In September 2018, then it returned to the global map for the export of natural and liquefied gas, as it recorded production in 2018/2019 with a volume of 66.1 billion cubic meters. Consumption of 61.8 billion m3 and a surplus of 4.3 billion m3.
Egypt’s gas power is concentrated through its largest fields, and they are:
- noon field .
- Fields north of Alexandria.
- Narcissus field.
- Atoll field.
- Salama field and shallow Kattameya.
- Baltim field, southwest.
In this context, Deputy Chairman of the Investors Union and Head of the Energy Committee of the Federation of Industries in Egypt, Mohamed Saad El-Din, said that Egypt’s daily production of gas amounts to 6 billion cubic feet, which suffices domestic needs and exports from it, indicating that Egypt will continuously discover fields, due to the boom that It happened in Egypt, and gas is expected to be exported at a billion dollars per month.
He explained, “The liquefaction stations in Egypt add value to the sector Gas and petroleumAnd these stations did not cost us exorbitant money,” noting that the capacity of the two stations is 2 billion feet per day, our production is 7 billion feet, and our needs are 6 billion feet.
