Egypt expects to export 7.5 million mt/year of gas and LNG by the end of the current financial year in June, as it increases drilling activity and signs exploration agreements to boost its production of the commodity, the chairman of the state-owned gas company EGAS said Feb. 10.

During the 2022-23 financial year that starts in July, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) expects to sign three gas exploration agreements and implement five production projects to bring 33 gas wells onstream that will add 450 MMcf/d and produce 17,000 b/d of condensate, Chairman Magdy Galal said in a petroleum ministry statement.

Egypt will also drill 13 exploration wells in the Mediterranean Sea and the delta region, Galal added.

During the first half of the 2021-22 financial year, four gas production projects were concluded, with 12 wells coming onstream, adding 375 MMcf/d and 12,100 b/d of condensate, he added.

Egypt saw its gas production rise 17% year-on-year to 53.1 million mt/year of gas in calendar year 2021, while its LNG exports reached a record 1 million mt in the third quarter of 2021, according to ministry figures.

Damietta return

Egyptian LNG exports rose last year after the Eni-operated Damietta facility, which has a 5 million mt/year capacity, came back onstream following an eight-year hiatus. Eni has a 50% stake in the Damietta LNG plant, alongside EGAS with a 40% stake and Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. with a 10% holding.

Damietta's return gave Egypt an additional export outlet as it looks to make the most of a surplus of gas achieved through production from the supergiant Zohr field and the start in 2020 of imports from Israel.

The country's other LNG terminal is the is 7.2 million mt/year Shell-operated Idku plant.

Eni was awarded five new exploration blocks in Egypt which it hopes will produce gas to sustain the domestic market and contribute to LNG export via the Damietta LNG plant, the Italian energy company said Jan. 10.

The licenses, four of which Eni will operate, are in the Egyptian offshore and onshore located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Western Desert and Gulf of Suez. The blocks, which cover about 8,410 sq km, were awarded by the energy ministry under its 2021 international licensing round.

In 2020, Eni produced 24 million barrels of oil and condensate and 440 Bcf of gas in Egypt, according to information on its website.