• Chevron, NewMed to build Israel-Egypt gas pipeline, 600m cfd
• Part of 15-year, 130 bcm export deal signed in August 2025
• Egypt boosts imports as domestic production, Zohr field output fall

A consortium led by Chevron and NewMed Energy has reached an agreement with the state-owned Israel Natural Gas Lines to construct a new natural gas pipeline to Egypt.

The project, called Nitzana, will have a capacity of 600 million cubic feet per day and is expected to be completed within three years, according to news reports on Tuesday. It will join existing interconnections, bringing Israel's total export capacity to Egypt to more than 2.2 billion cubic feet per day.

The new pipeline is part of a 15-year, 130 billion cubic meters deal signed in August 2025 between the Leviathan partners and Egypt. The project comes at a time when Egypt, once a net exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has had to resume imports since 2024, using its floating regasification units.

Activity at Egypt's liquefaction terminals, which have a combined capacity of about 12.2 million tonnes per year, has slowed over the past two years due to insufficient gas supply. The country's increasing dependence on imported LNG has driven up its energy costs as domestic production from the Zohr gas field, the country's largest, has declined. According to Egypt Oil & Gas and Rystad Energy, production has fallen from nearly 2.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2019 to around 1.9 billion cubic feet per day in early 2024.

According to local media citing the Ministry of Petroleum, Egypt imported 14.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024, a more than 70% increase from 2023.

The new pipeline is part of a wider effort to boost investment in Egypt's gas infrastructure. In addition to optimizing liquefaction terminals, the country has also launched new exploration projects, including a preliminary agreement between BP and state-owned EGAS to drill five wells in the eastern Mediterranean.

Abdel-Latif Boureima