The Egyptian government expects oil and gas exports to reach $ 21 billion during 2023, up 15% from $ 18.2 billion in 2022, Asharq Business reported, citing a government document.
Moreover, the state anticipates a further 15% rise to $24 billion in 2024. Oil and gas export revenues jumped more than 40% during 2022 due to rising gas exports.
LNG exports had a good first quarter:
LNG exports rose 6% y-o-y to 1.9 mn tons in 1Q 2023, according to Kpler data cited by Mees.
The increase was triggered by a 49% jump in Israeli gas deliveries in 2022, which reached a record 606 mn cf/d. The two sides signed a landmark gas export agreement last year that will see increased volumes of Israeli gas exported to Europe via Egypt’s LNG facilities as the continent looks to replace Russian fossil fuels.
New LNG plant in the pipeline:
The government is considering building a third LNG facility as it looks to ramp up gas exports, according to the document. Egypt currently has two terminals at Damietta and Idku with a capacity to produce 2.1 bn cubic feet of LNG per day. Plans for new LNG terminals have been floating around since at least last year.
As well as increased shipments of Israeli gas, plans are afoot to lay a pipeline connecting Cyprus’ giant Aphrodite field to Egypt’s LNG facilities. One of the developers of the field, NewMed, recently confirmed that it has submitted plans for the pipeline to the Cypriot government.
Gas is a key source of hard currency for Egypt: The government has sought to maximize gas proceeds to alleviate the FX crunch triggered by the war in Ukraine, and last year began rationing domestic consumption in order to increase exports.
