Welcome to the third issue of Power Trip

Hello, wonderful people, and welcome to the third issue of our signature series, Power Trip.

So far, Power Trip has stayed mostly inside Egypt’s borders, from the gas that kept your lights on this summer to the plants, money, and factories behind the transition. In this issue, we zoom out to the map. Egypt sits between Gulf energy, Eastern Mediterranean gas, and European demand, and it has spent years building the terminals, pipelines, and cables to tie them together.

Welcome to The Hub, where we look at what it takes for Egypt to become the region’s energy hub: supply coming in from more than one direction, a grid with room to move power around, and infrastructure that keeps working when a route closes. We start with what kind of hub Egypt already is, then ask TAQA Arabia CEO Pakinam Kafafi where private players fit alongside the state as the grid grows. We look at whether ports, warehouses, and fuel depots are being built for the next disruption and at the power links to Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Greece. We close with the network that has to carry it all.

In our final issue, we come home to your bill, your roof, and your car.

What we’re tracking this week-

#1- The energy gap widens

Egypt’s energy trade deficit widened 31.5% to USD 18.3 bn in FY 2025/26. Imports rose 27.6% to USD 24.9 bn during the period, mostly on natural gas (up USD 4.7 bn) and crude (up USD 1.9 bn). Meanwhile, exports rose 18.1% to USD 6.6 bn, with almost all of the gain coming in 4Q.

#2- Jordan link to quadruple

Egypt and Jordan will start feasibility studies next month on lifting their power link to 2 GW from 500 MW, a government source in the electricity sector told us. The upgrade would let the two grids trade more power and back each other up when supply runs tight. Egyptian contractors are already lining up for work on Jordan’s grid.

#3- Cyprus gas heads our way

Eni and TotalEnergies are budgeting USD 100-120 mn for a c. 40 km pipeline from the Zohr processing facilities in Port Said to Damietta, completing the Egyptian leg of the export route for Cyprus’ Cronos field. Construction starts in early 2027, putting first gas in Egypt in 1Q 2028 at about 500 mmcf / d. Separately, the Oil Ministry and Chevron initiated a fiscal agreement to develop Cyprus’ Aphrodite field, with Egypt receiving, processing, and liquefying the gas. Cronos and Aphrodite are two of four Cypriot developments Egypt has agreed to route through its infrastructure as it works to resume gas exports.

#4- Upstream ambitions

The Oil Ministry is targeting 14 Mediterranean exploration wells by the end of the fiscal year, with potential reserves of up to 12 tcf of gas, two government officials told EnterpriseAM. The wells are part of a wider 101-well campaign and are timed to the first phase of a new offshore seismic survey starting in November.