Following a short visit by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Algiers on June 25, his first trip abroad since taking office, Algeria has reportedly agreed to deliver to Egypt five liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes of 145,000 cubic metres each before the end of the year.
Egypt, which is facing the worst energy crisis in decades, heavily relies on gas to generate power for households and industry.
Egypt’s Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said in March that negotiations with Algeria’s Sonatrach were over “around 400 million cubic metres” of LNG.
In related news, Italian energy company ENI said on June 25 it secured the rights to drill in three areas in Algeria from Sonatrach.
The three permits for the El Guefoul, Tinerkouk and Terfas reserve areas onshore Algeria are valid for two years. “The work programme includes studies and drilling of prospection wells to define the potential of the areas,” the Italian company said in a statement. “The three areas are considered of great interest and potential.”
Algeria has the tenth-largest natural gas deposits in the world and is the third-largest gas supplier to Europe. Its exports have been in decline, however, because of lagging foreign investments.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/algeria-supply-lng-egypt