Egypt will receive 17 shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of September, its highest monthly total this year, as the country scrambles to cover a widening gap between production and consumption, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Petroleum.
The official, speaking to Al Manassa on condition of anonymity, said four additional cargoes are scheduled to arrive before the end of the month, bringing the September total to 17, up from just 12 in August.
Each shipment, exceeding 150,000 cubic meters, is offloaded directly into regasification vessels docked at Ain Sokhna port before being fed into the national gas grid.
“The current imports will help bridge the supply-demand gap,” the official said, noting that domestic production stands at between 4.1–4.2 billion cubic feet per day, covering only 60%–65% of the roughly 6 billion cubic feet needed daily.
The spike in imports was made possible after a regasification vessel in Jordan's Aqaba port was brought online to support Egypt's four existing units, raising total handling capacity to around 22 shipments per month.
Power stations continue to absorb the bulk of gas supplies, consuming between 59%–61% of locally available volumes to maintain grid stability. The remainder is allocated across industry, commercial activity and households through monthly coordination between EGAS and suppliers.
Egypt's gas output has declined steadily since 2023, prompting repeated fuel shortages that have disrupted power generation and industrial operations. In August, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly acknowledged the downturn but expressed optimism that production could climb to 6.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2027.
To stave off this shortage, Egypt signed the largest gas deal in its history with Israeli NewMed energy, amounting to a whopping $35B for an intended supply of 130 million cubic meters. Before the deal could pass through, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a summary freeze of the agreement. Egyptian officials confirmed they were unshaken by Israel's backtrack, and already had contingency plans for diversified sources of gas to cover demand.
