The Netherlands has received its first ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment from Egypt since the beginning of operations at its sole LNG terminal in 2011, Al-Ahram reported on Monday.

The 174,000-cubic-metre shipment of LNG, shipped from Egypt’s Damietta LNG Plant days ago through LNG tanker Gaslog Glasgow, arrived at the Netherland’s Gate Terminal in Rotterdam. 

The Dutch terminal has an annual capacity of 12 billion cubic metres of gas per year, covering approximately a third of the national gas consumption in the country.

The shipment comes as Europe seeks to fill its needs for gas amid fears of a gas supply crisis due to rising tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border. 

The cargo is one of several recent shipments made by the Damietta plant, one of the country’s two liquefaction plants, since its resumption of operations in February 2021 after a near nine-year closure over legal disputes.

Egypt has made a series of oil and gas discoveries in recent years, most notably the giant Zohr gas field off the Mediterranean. The gas field, which holds an estimated reservoir of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, has drawn the interest of investors to the country’s energy sector.

It has also helped Egypt reach self-sufficiency in natural gas and pursue becoming a regional hub for gas exports by hosting the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which seeks to promote gas exports from the region.

In December, Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla told Reuters that natural gas exports are at full capacity of about 1.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) from its two terminals. 

The minister said that natural gas production is stable, currently ranging between 6.5 and 7 bcf/d, yet said that exports are expected to drop to 1 bcf/d over the spring due to regular seasonal fluctuations.