Cairo – A report on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen has showed that the highest increase in the volume of exports of the Arab countries in the third quarter of 2021 was posted in Egypt. Exports from Egypt reached approximately 1 million tonnes from 0.1 million tonnes a year ago. In 2020, spot prices were very low, thus making exports economically unviable.
A report by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said the growth reached around 900% year on year, the world’s largest growth rate in Q3 2021. Wael Hamed, the Organization’s engineer specialized in gas industry who draft the survey, added this continued growth in the volume of exports from Egypt is due to the resumption of business in the liquefaction complex in Damietta last February.
The production capacity of the factory in Damietta is currently estimated in approximately 5 million tonnes a year, following eight years inoperative. Another factor was the continued operation of the complex Idku, which has a production capacity of approximately 7.2 million tonnes a year.
Hamed underscored that in Q3 2021, exports from the Damietta complex reached approximately 0.6 million tonnes, raising total exports from the complex in the months since the operations restarted in February 2021 to 1.6 million tonnes. The major destinations were the market of Asia, particularly India, Pakistan and China, and the rest was exported to Spain, Belgium and Kuwait.
The report added that it’s expected that Egypt reaches a record high in volume of LNG exports by the end of 2021. Overall, this high rebound of exports from Egypt is due to the growth in national production, the discovery of several new gas fields and the fast-tracking of their development, particularly in fields of Zohr and Atoll.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
