Egypt has received a new US-flagged liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification vessel at the Port of Alexandria as part of efforts to stabilize power supplies amid declining domestic gas production and surging summer demand.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi welcomed the arrival of the ENERGOS POWER , operated by US firm New Fortress Energy, which sailed from Germany. The ship will convert imported LNG back to its gaseous form at the Tahya Misr terminal before injecting it into Egypt's national gas grid.
In a statement published Monday on the Egyptian Cabinet’s Facebook page, Badawi said the vessel, with a storage capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, is part of a broader strategy to secure adequate gas supplies for electricity generation during peak summer months.
The new FSRU (floating storage regasification unit) is the third such vessel leased by the government, with a fourth on the way. The infrastructure upgrades aim to increase the flexibility and resilience of Egypt's gas supply system.
“We are enhancing the infrastructure needed to import and deliver natural gas to meet rising demand,” Badawi added in the statement.
Domestic gas production in Egypt has been declining since 2023, with output falling below the country's daily consumption needs, estimated at around 6 billion cubic feet. The shortfall has led to repeated disruptions in power generation and industrial activity.
To address the gap, Egypt imported an estimated 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas during the first quarter of 2025. The total cost of imports reached $1.73 billion, up from $696 million during the same period in 2024—a 148% increase, according to an official from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), who previously spoke to Al Manassa.
The EGAS source said LNG shipments are being purchased at prices ranging from $12 to $14 per mmBtu, and that the government is negotiating extended payment terms with suppliers to ease financial pressures.
Last summer, Egypt experienced widespread blackouts due to an inability to meet electricity demand. The government introduced load-shedding programs starting with one-hour cuts in July 2023, later extending to three hours by June 2024.
Officials attributed the blackouts to extreme heat and increased demand. The crisis subsided by September after Egypt secured new energy supply contracts.
To prevent a repeat of last year's outages, the government has also slashed gas supplies to non-essential sectors. On Sunday, gas deliveries to fertilizer and methanol plants were halved for 15 days, following Israeli notification of maintenance on its export pipeline, which will reduce deliveries during the summer.
The disruptions follow broader instability in Egypt's energy sources, including intermittent flows from Israel due to the war on Gaza. Since 2020, Egypt has relied on Israeli gas to supplement its energy needs. In 2024, it expanded regasification capacity by leasing a unit from Australia’s Hoegh Galleon.
In parallel, the Ministry of Petroleum recently announced three new oil and gas discoveries by state-run and joint-venture companies in the Western Desert and Gulf of Suez.
EGAS is also exploring the use of Cypriot gas imports to meet 20% to 30% of domestic demand, with the remainder re-exported after liquefaction.
