A planned pipeline connecting Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to Egypt’s LNG facilities will cost between $800m and $1bn, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said at a joint news conference with Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis.
Yiorgos said a final agreement on the pipeline would be signed as quickly as possible but did not specify when and that Cypriot gas would be used for both domestic consumption and export.
Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natural gas and hopes to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years.
Egypt has also said it aims to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency.
Egypt has an extensive pipeline network and two idle gas liquefaction plants ready to export new gas as it arrives. Tarek said that domestic gas production has increased to 5.7 billion cbf per day as a result of new production coming online, up from 5.5 billion in February.
Egypt is targeting about $10 billion in foreign investment in the oil and gas sector in the coming year.
8th May 2018
