Egypt plans to purchase 55 cargoes of LNG (initially 45 cargoes) through a tender granted to seven companies which are PetroChina, Trafigura, Vitol, Noble Group, EDF Trading, Gas Natural and Shell.

The seven companies had over the weekend met with Egypt’s EGAS in order to discuss the tender. EGAS however did not disclose the amount of cargoes each company is to provide.

The cargoes encompass approximately 4.68billion cubic metres of gas.

The government hopes the gas would meet energy needs as it makes effort to contend with energy shortage in the country, Reuters reports.

According to figures from BP, Egypt used approximately 48 billion cubic metres of gas in 2014. The country has turned from exporter to net importer due to declining output and increasing demand of Oil and Gas.

Egypt had in August anticipated purchasing 7.79 million tonnes of LNG for $3.55 billion this year. It has given the private sector a go ahead to import LNG which could boost private investment in the sector.

The current batch of cargoes is to be delivered into Egypt’s second floating import terminal, the BW Singapore. The BW Singapore arrived in late September with a capacity of 600 to 700MMcf/d providing Egypt with the chance of importing LNG and converting it to natural gas to nurture its energy grid.