(Ecofin Agency) - Egypt’s Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has announced that it has made the first payments to liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers ever since the payment terms for deliveries were prolonged.

According to Khaled Abdel Badie (photo), the head of EGAS, the company has made all payments that were owed on LNG shipments. He however did not disclose if it was the first payments this year.

“We agreed with the companies to paying dues owed to them over a period of 90 days, and we are committed to this payment process,” he said.

Every month, Egypt imports about six to eight cargoes of LNG and traders have said that EGAS had not paid suppliers since December, when it prolonged payment terms to 90 days from the normal 15 days, owing to the country's foreign currency crisis and low oil prices in the global market.

Traders also noted that the country currently owes LNG suppliers about $1 billion and the prolonged payment terms have lessen the Egypt's possibility for future LNG contracts.

In January 2016, BP deviated an LNG tanker to Brazil instead of discharging in Egypt. Reports had said that the move was due to delays in payment from EGAS, but the latter and BP had said that the cargo was suspended.

Egypt’s other LNG suppliers include Shell, Gas Natural, Vitol, EDF Trading, PetroChina and Noble, LNG World News reports.

Anita Fatunji