EGAS Pumps $4b to Increase Gas Production in 2014/2015

The state-owned firm Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) plans to increase its gas production with investment worth US$4 billion during the year 2014/2015, said EGAS Chairman Khaled Abdel Badie said in a statement.

EGAS Chairman explained that the company has finished four projects among the 10 projects for natural gas which will be developed in this fiscal year.

According to Oil & Gas Journal estimates as of 1 January 2014, Egypt holds 77 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, an increase from the 2010 estimate of almost 59 trillion cubic feet and the fourth-largest amount in Africa, after Nigeria, Algeria, and Mozambique.

Despite new discoveries, Egypt is currently facing a decline in the gas production rates, which has declined by an annual average of 3 percent from 2009 to 2013, according to data released by US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The deficit has reached about 2 billion cubic feet per day while the current output stands at 4.9 billion, compared to 5.6 billion produced the same time last year.

Egypt has been diverting natural gas supply away from exports to the domestic market to meet demand.

As a result, Egypt’s total gas exports have declined substantially by an annual average of 30 percent from 2010 to 2013 as rising domestic demand, particularly in the electricity sector, the largest consumer, which is 57 percent of the total domestic consumption. This percentage increased to 66 percent during the months of July and August, said EGAS.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s LNG exports have continued to dramatically drop in 2014, averaging only 13 billion cubic feet during the first half of the year, according to IHS Energy data.

The country plans to start importing LNG after September 2014 when it receives a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) from Hoegh LNG of Norway, US EIA reported.

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