Mobile natural gas car fueling stations are coming to Egypt: Egypt has been working to boost natural gas infrastructure across the country as it advances its plans to convert gasoline-fired engines to dual-fuel vehicles that run on both gasoline and natural gas. Plans to bring the scheme to scale have been ongoing since 2021, but progress has been slow amid operational and supply chain-related challenges. Fast forward a few years, and the government has now fleshed out its plans to expand the scheme, including expanding natgas infrastructure across the country and bringing mobile fueling stations to remote areas.

The current state of things: The government is planning to outfit 500k vehicles with dual-fuel engines by the end of the year under the scheme, up from 215k cars in 2022, according to a report from the “Story of a Homeland Conference” seen by Enterprise. To fulfill that target, it has set up some 122 conversion centers for the cars, the report said.

Plans to set up the mobile fueling stations aren’t new: The Oil Ministry has been planning to establish mobile natural gas fueling stations since 2021, with one successful Gastec mobile station currently operating on a trial basis, a ministry source told Enterprise. The target is to establish 221 new natgas fueling stations across the country, to be added to our existing infrastructure of 662 stationary stations, which will cost some EGP 10.4 bn, according to the report, which did not clarify the exact long-term target for mobile stations.

Why mobile stations? Mobile stations offer a cost-effective alternative to expanding natgas infrastructure by building new pipelines,our source said. The stations will primarily target crowded areas in its first phase, before expanding them to tourist hotspots and areas with limited land availability, the source added. They will then be expanded to remote industrial and commercial zones.

The details: The ministry is planning to establish 10 mobile stations in crowded areas in the initial phase, each with a capacity to fuel 500 cars every 12 hours, according to the report. Each station has a capacity for 5k cubic meters of natural gas, our source clarified.

Who is involved? State-owned companies Gastec and Cargas are managing the project, our source said. The ministry is hoping to rope in the private sector for this initiative, the source said. It’s hoping to attract investments of up to EGP 9 bn from the private sector for both stationary and mobile fueling stations, according to the source.

We’re also getting a station locator mobile app: The government plans to release a mobile application that will enable users to locate nearby fueling stations and request fueling services from the mobile stations, according to the report. It will also set up an electronic system to track and manage transported quantities, it added.

One caveat: Natgas output has been falling, while demand is on the rise. Total gas output in Egypt fell by 5% in 2Q 2023 from the previous quarter to 5.88 bn cubic feet per day (cf/d), its lowest since 2Q 2020. Output was down 9% compared with the same period a year before, and nearly 1.2 bn cf/d below the record of 7.07 bn cf/d in 3Q 2021 as output in offshore and onshore fields fell.

But things could improve as soon as this month: The government hopes to increase imports of Israeli gas by more than 30% this October due to falling seasonal demand in Israel. Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said in August that Israel will increase gas exports to Egypt from its offshore Tamar field by an additional 38.7 bn cubic meters (bcm) over 11 years. Egypt imported 4.62 bcm of gas from Israel last year.

It couldn’t come sooner: Monthly natural gas sales for vehicles are currently at 62 mn cubic meters and are poised for growth as conversion centers and mobile stations expand, the report said.

Your top infrastructure stories for the week:

  • East Port Said port expansion could get IFC backing: The International Financial Corporation (IFC) could lend USD 175 mn to the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) to help finance its expansion of the East Port Said port.
  • Telecom Egypt is bringing the Medusa cable to the Red Sea: Telecom Egypt and submarine infrastructure operator Medusa Submarine Cable System have inked an agreement to extend the cross-Mediterranean Medusa cable to the Red Sea.
  • OC, Metito have funds for UAE desal project: Orascom Construction and Metito reached financial close for their planned USD 2.2 bn water treatment project in Abu Dhabi.
  • AIIB completes annual meeting addressing global infrastructure financing gap: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) wrapped up its annual meeting in Sharm El Sheikh last week under the theme “sustainable growth in a challenging world.”
Tags: