Egypt and Cyprus are moving closer to finalising the technical and commercial agreements to connect Cyprus’s Aphrodite offshore natural gas field to Egypt’s infrastructure. The project aims to transport the field’s production to Egypt for processing and re-export, maximizing Egypt’s role as a regional hub for energy trade and exchange, noted a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR).

Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, met with Scott Childers, Director of Strategic Assets and Emerging Markets at Chevron, the operator of the Cypriot field, along with an accompanying delegation, to follow up on preparatory procedures for the natural gas development and production project.

The meeting, which included Said Salyma, Executive Managing Director of Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), and Mohamed El-Bagoury, Head of the Central Department for Legal Affairs at MoPMR set September 2026 as a deadline to finalize the main agreements. Both sides agreed to intensify follow-up meetings and accelerate the review of draft agreements to reach their final formats over the coming months.

Badawi affirmed Egypt’s full commitment to acting as a key partner in the project’s success, emphasizing that adhering to the targeted schedules will pave the way for the implementation phases to serve the mutual interests of Egypt, Cyprus, and the field’s investment partners.

The progress spans both technical and commercial levels, with ongoing studies and engineering work regarding the floating production unit, offshore pipelines, and the natural gas transportation and processing system, Childers noted. Completing these foundational agreements represents a pivotal step toward making the final investment decision (FID).

In April 2025, Cyprus announced that Chevron would begin seabed survey operations in early summer to prepare for the construction of a strategic pipeline linking the Aphrodite gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean to Egypt. The move followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding at EGYPES 2025 between Egypt, Cyprus, and Chevron, which laid the foundation for the commercial utilization of Aphrodite’s gas reserves in Block 12 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone.