The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to hire a gasification ship with a capacity of 500 Mmcf/d from Jordan.

According to an official at EGAS, Egypt since 2015 ending booked 200 Mmcf of gas from the full capacity of the gasification ship in Jordan.

The country plans to host the gas in a private port managed by SUMED in Ain Sokhna in 2017.

EGAS increased the importation of gas to around 1 Bcf/d rather than the 850 Mmcf in the past week via the two gasification ships at the Ain Sokhna port.

The official said the bill for the monthly gas import is estimated at $250 million to supply approximately 1.2 Bcf/m of gas to the domestic market.

He said the provision of a third ship to work together with the two ships in Ain Sokhna area will allow Egypt receive close to 2 Bcf/d of gas. This will ensure the constancy of supplies for industry and electricity without difficulties.

Studies have revealed that Egypt can reach self-sufficiency in natural gas by 2022. But before then, imports will persist over the next five years to ease the gap between the local production and consumption, Energy Egypt reports.

Anita Fatunji