Egypt is set to export its first LNG cargo in months from Idku while lining up 10 import cargoes for November

Egypt plans to send an LNG cargo to Europe this month, even as imports cover nearly half its gas use: The Idku plant should ship its first cargo to Europe in months by the end of November, Al Arabiya reports, citing an unnamed government official. That’s later than the October restart we flagged in late September.

Exports only go out when winter demand dips: The Oil Ministry resumed feeding gas to Idku in recent days after agreeing export volumes and marketing plans with Egas, the official said. How much gas ships depends on what’s left after domestic demand is covered. Last winter, that worked out to one to two cargoes a month from the plant between October and March. Letting partners export when local demand dips helps them collect their dues and encourages them to invest in exploration, the official added.

And most of the revenue goes to Idku’s foreign shareholders: Shell or TotalEnergies is expected to buy the cargo through its trading arm, and a standard 150k cbm cargo could be worth more than USD 60 mn depending on export prices, the official said. That revenue then gets split among Idku’s shareholders according to their stakes.

On the import side, the government has asked its foreign suppliers to deliver about 10 LNG cargoes in November, down from 12 in October, and deferred five of the 15 it had contracted into 2027, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed government official. That’s because a single cargo now tops USD 100 mn, double September’s level, which puts November’s LNG import allocation at about USD 1 bn.

Even as it buys fewer cargoes, it’s refreshing the fleet that turns them into gas: The Norwegian regasification vessel Hoegh Gandria is due at Ain Sokhna in early December on a 10-year lease worth about USD 600 mn, replacing Hoegh Galleon when its charter ends in February, and can regasify up to 1 bcf / d, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed government official. Egypt pays about USD 18.5 mn a month to charter four regasification vessels, according to the official, and the three at Ain Sokhna plus a unit in Jordan’s Aqaba provide around 2.75 bcf / d.

Then there’s Damietta, where the FSRU is still out of action after July’s drone strike: Energos Winter was pumping 450 mmcf / d into the grid when it was hit by a drone at Damietta in late July. After the government weighed fixing it locally or in Turkey, the vessel went to Spain for repairs, according to Asharq, with no confirmed date for its return.

The longer-term fix is pumping more gas at home: The government aims to bring gas production back to previous levels in 2027, the official told Al Arabiya, and has set an FY 2027/28 production target of about 5.1 bcf / d, according to Asharq. To get there, it has offered foreign producers incentives, including exporting part of their new output and higher prices for newly produced gas, and finished paying off USD 6.1 bn in arrears in June, clearing the backlog to zero.