• Egypt and Cyprus signed a gas cooperation agreement to channel Cypriot offshore gas to Egyptian infrastructure.

• The deal establishes a framework for future negotiations without immediate investment commitments.

• Egypt aims to secure gas supply amid rising energy demand.

Egypt and Cyprus concluded a natural gas cooperation agreement in Cairo on Monday, March 30, laying the foundation for a regional gas corridor. Authorities from both countries attended the official signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES 2026).

The agreement organizes bilateral cooperation in developing and monetizing gas resources. It provides for the transport of Cypriot offshore gas to Egyptian infrastructure.

Egypt will process the gas in its liquefaction facilities before potentially exporting it to external markets. The agreement also frames technical and commercial discussions between the parties.

However, the text formalizes a preliminary understanding and does not create immediate commitments on investment or production. At this stage, it sets the basis for future negotiations on transport conditions, processing modalities, and gas commercialization.

Earlier negotiations between Egypt and Cyprus preceded the signing of this agreement. According to information reported by Agence Ecofin in February 2025, Egypt expressed its intention, through a memorandum of understanding, to purchase gas from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field while facing energy supply challenges.

These discussions already focused on transporting gas to Egyptian terminals for processing and monetization. This direction formed part of ongoing exchanges between the two countries on gas transport arrangements.

In addition, reports from September 2020 indicated that Egypt and Cyprus intensified discussions on a pipeline project linking Cypriot fields to Egyptian infrastructure.

This cooperation also builds on a contractual precedent from August 2016, when Cyprus signed a natural gas supply agreement with Egypt, one year after the discovery of Zohr, a world-class field that ensured Egypt’s gas self-sufficiency until 2023.

That contract already aimed to export Cypriot gas resources to the Egyptian market under a formal commercial framework. Therefore, it reflects longstanding energy relations between the two countries.

This article was initially published in French by Abdel-Latif Boureima

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum