The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) has announced that Egypt topped the list of the most growing Arab exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) during Q1 2021.

Egypt exported about 2 million tons of LNG in comparison to 0.4 million tons during Q4 2020, which reflects an increase of 400% on annual basis. This growth rate is the highest during the last period after Egypt had been affected by the covid 19 repercussions due to low oil prices.

According to the report, the increase was achieved thanks to the operation of IDKU plant with its full capacity of 7.2 million tons per year, in addition to the reoperation of Damietta LNG plant after an eight year-halt.

Damietta plant was reopened after successful negotiations resulted in signing a settlement agreement at the end of 2020. Its first export cargo was in February, while additional four cargos were loaded in March, to hit a total amount of 300,000 tons loaded cargos since the reoperation.

The report also stated that Damietta plant is expected to contribute to the growth of Egypt’s exports during Q2 2021, but this is subject to the dynamics of oil prices.