Egypt has announced it discovered a large reserve of natural gas in one of its Eastern Mediterranean Sea offshore blocks in the country.
The gas field with its 3.5 trillion cubic feet of reserves is considered the largest discovery since the Well finding in 2015 that made Egypt a natural gas exporter.
The finding is timely as natural gas has become a key lifeline for the country’s struggling economy.
“Our natural gas exports are an average of six or 7 billion per year. With a new discovery alone, we can reach 10 to 12 billion in gas exports, which will boost Egypt’s state budget and provide badly needed hard currency revenue’’, said Egypt’s government official.
According to BP World Energy Review. Egypt’s natural gas output in 2021 was about 67.8 million cubic meters. That’s doubled the 2020 figures and accounts for 1.7% of the world’s share. But the Egyptian government is aiming for more.
“We are signing agreements, with different international energy companies, the attractive incentives for exploration to boost production. As for export, Egypt is the only country that has L and G plants in the East Mediterranean Forum. So we take gas from member states like Israel. About 80% of Egypt’s production goes to the European Union”, said Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral-Terek El Molla.
The EU is hoping to get more gas from Egypt. After the standoff with the main supply, Russia led to an acute energy crisis.
“There is demand for our gas because we are close to the European Union as a location, and our better price as the cost of transporting gas from Egypt is lower than getting it from the US and Qatar, for instance”, Terek El Molla added.
The government is also rationing the use of gas for domestic power production, so as to free up more amounts for exports.
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With the success of this discovery, the Egyptian government announced that it will offer another 118 gas exploration licenses in 2023 to unearth more energy reserves in the country.
