According to the website, this will be backed by the Egypt's endeavors to boost its exports of natural gas through restarting one of its two production plants
US economic news website Bloomberg states that Egypt is on its way to becoming one of the world’s top 10 natural gas exporters once it has reached its full capacity in 2021.
According to the website, this will be backed by the country's endeavors to boost its exports of liquefied natural gas through restarting one of its two production plants.
In its report, Bloomberg quoted Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla saying in an interview Wednesday with Dubai-based consultancy Gulf Intelligence that the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Damietta, which has been idle for eight years, will reopen by the end of February.
It will process about 4.5 million tons of LNG a year and raise the nation's capacity to 12.5 million tons, El-Molla said.
“In 2020, the prices were very low and we were not able to export except for a few cargoes,” El-Molla said. “But starting from October 2020 until now, we have already booked all our volumes to be exported from the Idku plant up till the end of March.”
In the next two weeks, Egyptian state firms EGPC and EGAS will offer onshore and offshore exploration blocks for bids from energy companies, El Molla added.
Egypt plans to use its position on Europe's doorstep to become a major supplier to the continent, which is transitioning away from dirtier fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
LNG prices have recovered since late last year, thanks in part to the development and roll-out of virus vaccines. Prices spiked in Asia this month because of a severe winter.
