Egypt plans to export 50 million cubic feet of gas and about 500 tons of mazut (heavy fuel oil) per day to Syria under two MoUs signed Monday, a government source told Al Manassa.
The exports aim to help generate electricity and narrow fuel supply gaps in Syrian cities, the source, who is familiar with the ministry’s contracts, said.
Egypt signed two MoUs with Syria on Monday. The first covers supplying Egyptian gas to Syria for power generation by using regasification vessels and gas transmission networks. The second addresses meeting Syria’s needs for petroleum products.
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry is also targeting exports of about 22 billion cubic feet of natural gas to Lebanon and European countries in January and February.
“A joint committee will meet in the coming period to assess plans to rehabilitate gas infrastructure and the handling of petroleum products in Syrian territory, in preparation for starting exports,” the source said.
The committee will set the mechanism for supplying gas, whether from domestic surplus or through government imports of Israeli gas, and determine the date for actual gas flows to Syria after the country’s infrastructure is ready, the source said.
The talks centered on gas and mazut exports because they are the main fuels for Syria’s power plants, the source said. Electricity there is not supplied around the clock, and more fuel is needed to boost generation hours this year.
Syria’s current gas production ranges between 7 million and 9 million cubic meters per day, covering about 50% of the fuel needs of power generation stations in Syria, the source said.
Syria faces an acute shortage of electricity and fuel after a 14-year war destroyed a large part of production and transport facilities and reduced operating capacity at oil and gas fields.
The Egyptian-Syrian cooperation comes as part of Egyptian efforts to support energy supplies to neighboring countries and reduce electricity generation gaps in countries such as Syria and Lebanon.
On Dec. 14, Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi presented a set of initiatives to boost Arab energy security at an OAPEC meeting in Kuwait, including creating an Arab mechanism to coordinate emergency purchases of crude oil and liquefied natural gas and exchanging cargoes when needed.
Egypt began exporting liquefied natural gas for Shell Global in October after the cargo vessel New Nature left Idku port for Italy carrying about 155,000 cubic meters.
Egypt’s natural gas output has declined since 2023, reducing supply below domestic demand and contributing to repeated power outages and lower production in some industrial activities.
