Egypt snaps up offers for regional gas shipments: A number of regional energy firms have put in offers to supply Egypt with LNG this year, a government source told EnterpriseAM confirming news first picked up by Asharq Business. Saudi Aramco, UAE’s Adnoc, Algeria’s Sonatrach, and QatarEnergy have submitted technical and financial offers to the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Asharq’s source said, adding that EGAS is currently reviewing the offers.

We knew Qatari gas was on the table: Egypt has been mulling signing long-term contractswith Qatar to secure natural gas shipments for domestic consumption.

Egypt is likely to continue importing LNG until 2030, a government source in the energy sector told EnterpriseAM. The contracts will likely cover a period of five years and offer favorable pricing and flexible payment terms, the source added. The government is reportedly eying contracts running until 2028 and 2030, unnamed informed insiders also told Bloomberg last weekend.

We’re not bidding farewell to short-term contracts just yet: Heightened demand, price fluctuations, and geopolitical conditions mean the country will continue to depend on short- and medium-term contracts to secure gas needs, the source said.

Another sign we’re looking at long-term reliance on natgas imports: EGAS inked a10-year agreement with global maritime energy infrastructure player Höegh Evi for an LNG regasification vessel last week.

Terms and conditions apply: Earlier this year, Asharq reported that Egypt has set a pricingand payment mechanism for securing LNG supply agreements for the summer months. EGAS sent the conditions to global LNG suppliers in a bid to secure direct contract offers instead of issuing public tenders — including a price cap, deferred payments, and overprice charges.

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Egypt is set to receive Turkey’s first-ever overseas deployed regasification unit, according to a statement from the Turkish Energy Ministry released last week. The Turkish floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) will help process LNG imports during the high-demand summer months under a “flexible and efficient utilization model that will contribute to the natural gas supply security of both our country and Egypt,” according to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. The unit is leased under a charter agreement between Turkey’s state-owned energy firm BOTAS and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company

REMEMBER- The government is preparing for a surge in demand over the summer months, which has led the country to target importing 155-160 shipments of LNG this year — worth some USD 3 bn — to close the gap between demand and supply. Adding pressure to keep the lights on — and for Egypt to potentially overprepare — are repeated pledges from the government that the dreaded days of blackouts won’t return.

The Turkish vessel will be joined by three other vessels to process the summer uptick in LNG imports, including the already docked 750 mn cubic feet per day (mcf/d) Hoegh Galleon, the 750 mcf/d Energos Eskimo soon to make its way from Jordan’s Aqaba, and the still-unconfirmed 750 mcf/d Energos Power from Germany, according to industry publication Mees, who note that the vessel is currently en route to the Red Sea.

The name of the incoming Turkish FRSU is still under wraps, but Mees believes it will be the 750 mcf/d Vasant 1. Back in February, unconfirmed reports suggested Egypt was preparing to lease a Turkish FSRU to help meet surging domestic demand during the summer months. At the time, unnamed officials said the unit would cost the government some USD 45 mn and would remain in service until November, providing around 500 mcf/d of regasified LNG.

DATA POINT- Energy availability is expected to increase to 8.1 bn cubic feet per day (bcf/d) during the summer months, with 4.0 bcf/d produced locally, 1.1 bcf/d imported from Israel, and combined regasification capacity from the four expected vessels to total 3.0 bcf/d between them, according to Mees calculations using Oil Ministry and Gasco data.

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