Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Chevron have initialed a financial framework agreement for the project to connect Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to Egypt’s gas infrastructure, marking another step toward developing the cross-border gas link.

The agreement was initialed by Mohamed El-Bagoury, Head of the Central Department for Legal Affairs at Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Javier La Rosa, Chevron’s President of Base Assets and Emerging Countries (BAEC), in the presence of Karim Badawi, Egypt’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Michael Damianos, Cyprus’ minister of energy, commerce and industry.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference and Exhibition (MOC 2026), held in Alexandria from October 20 to 22, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR).

The framework is part of the financial, commercial, and regulatory arrangements needed to advance the project. It is intended to facilitate the transportation of gas from Aphrodite to Egypt, where it could be received, processed, and liquefied for domestic use or export, depending on market demand and the project’s commercial viability.

The latest step follows a series of efforts to complete the arrangements needed to move the project toward a final investment decision (FID). On October 8, Badawi met with Chevron executives in Athens to review outstanding technical, commercial, and legal requirements ahead of a decision on procuring long-lead items and subsequently taking the FID.

Located in Block 12 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone, Aphrodite is operated by Chevron alongside Shell’s BG Cyprus subsidiary and NewMed Energy. Cyprus approved modifications to the field’s development and production plan in February 2025. The plan includes a floating production facility and a subsea pipeline connecting the field to Egypt’s gas transmission network.

The development plan has an estimated cost of approximately $4 billion and envisages a production facility with a maximum capacity of around 800 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per day.

The connection would allow Cyprus to commercialize its offshore gas resources through Egypt’s existing processing and liquefaction facilities. Egypt operates LNG export terminals at Idku and Damietta, giving it infrastructure that can support the export of gas from regional producers to international markets.