Good afternoon, friends, and congratulations on making it to the weekend. The news cycle appears to be taking a breather, and we’ve got a brisk issue for you today.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

Egypt to import more Israeli gas for USD 35 bn through 2040: Egypt will import an additional 130 bcm of Israeli natural gas under an amended agreement with the Leviathan field partners, in a transaction worth USD 35 bn that extends supply through 2040, according to a press release (pdf). The amended agreement builds on a 2019 contract between Egypt’s Blue Ocean Energy and Leviathan partners Chevron and Ratio Energies.

The new volumes will be added in two phases. An initial 20 bcm will be supplied once Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL) completes the Ashdod-Ashkelon offshore section and the Leviathan partners finish the third pipeline project, raising daily exports to 6.7 bcm annually. A second 110 bcm increment would bring daily exports up to 12.9 bcm per year starting in 2029.

For context- The Leviathan reservoir has supplied 23.5 bcm of gas to Egypt since production began in 2020, under a 2019 agreement to deliver 60 bcm — or 4.5 bcm annually — by the early 2030s.

The agreement is contingent on a final investment decision on the Leviathan expansion project and signing a transmission agreement with INGL for the Nitzana pipeline to Egypt within two to eight months.

New sukuk issuance on the horizon? Egypt may tap the international debt markets with a new USD 1 bn sovereign sukuk tranche by September or October, a government source told EnterpriseAM today. The upcoming sukuk issuance will mark our first international issuance of the current fiscal year, and is part of the country’s USD 5 bn international sovereign sukuk program.

This will stand as Egypt’s third-ever sovereign sukuk issuance, following June’s USD 1 bn sovereign sukuk issuance, which had been fully subscribed by Kuwait Finance House, and our maiden sukuk issuance back in 2023.

There is already a strong investor appetite for the upcoming issuance as the offering advisors reported concrete offers and significant investor interest when they concluded a series of promotional meetings and roundshows in April, ahead of June’s successful issuance of the USD 1 bn sovereign sukuk issuance.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s another day with a mixed bag of headlines in the international press. Among the stories getting top billing are rising concerns over the future of the US economy.

US Federal Reserve officials are signaling a growing concern over a slowing US economy and weakening labor market, less than a week after the Fed left interest rates steady. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly both expressed support for two interest rate cuts this year, citing signs of economic slowdown and uncertainty over the impact of US tariffs on inflation — which remains above the Fed’s 2% goal, Reuters reports.

ICYMI- Worries over a weakened labor market follow worse-than-expected job growth numbers that prompted US President Donald Trump to fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer — a Biden appointee whom he claimed “faked the jobs numbers before the election to try and boost Kamala [Harris’] chances of victory.”

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a warm day, with temperatures in Cairo reaching a high of 36°C, before cooling down to 23°C. Up north, we’re expecting cooler weather with a high of 28°C and a low of 26°C, according to our favorite weather app.