Egypt leases German gas liquefaction units to boost production

The Egyptian Petroleum Ministry announced in a Tuesday statement that Egypt plans to lease an German floating gas-liquefaction unit.

Egypt, the largest Arab country by population, is seeking to increase production of its offshore giant Zohr gas field in order to meet the rising demand for domestic gas during the summer heat.

Eni, the operator of Zohr, resumed drilling in late October after the output in the largest Mediterranean gas field dropped to 1.9 billion cubic foot per day by early 2024. This is well below the maximum reached in 2019.

Karim Badawi, Egypt's Oil Minister, discussed with Philipp Steinberg the leasing plans for a unit that is currently located in Germany's Baltic Sea Terminal of Mukran, on the sidelines CERAWeek, an energy conference in Houston, Texas.

Both sides discussed the possibility of Germany purchasing Cypriot natural gas flowing through Egypt's facilities for liquefaction and re-exporting it to Europe.

Egypt will send a delegation to Berlin in this month to finish the contractual provisions.

Egypt and Cyprus signed an agreement last month that allows the export of natural gas from Cyprus offshore fields through Egypt. Both countries are seeking to strengthen the role of the Eastern Mediterranean as a hub for energy. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Nayera Abdallah)

(source: Reuters)