Egypt’s president held a meeting with the CEO of Eni to discuss strategies for enhancing gas production. This discussion follows Egypt’s shift to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market to meet its domestic demand, as reported by the Italian energy group.
The country had planned to become a major gas exporter after Eni discovered the giant Zohr offshore field in 2015, but domestic gas production in Egypt has been falling since 2021 to reach a six-year low this year.
In the first half of this year, Zohr’s average production reached 1.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd), significantly lower than the peak achieved in 2019. This decline has sparked speculation regarding technical issues and a pause in investment at the giant field.
At a post-result conference call on Friday, Eni’s Chief Operating Officer for Global Resources Guido Brusco said the Italian group would start activities to restore some gas output at Zohr at the beginning of next year.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi also talked about Egypt’s role in developing a gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean and the group’s commitment to accelerate decarbonisation through methane emissions reduction and other energy efficiency solutions, a statement said.
Earlier in October, three trading sources reported that Egypt intended to issue a tender for up to 20 LNG cargoes to fulfill requests for the first quarter of 2025.
