Egypt enjoys excess capacity to liquefy natural gas, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, told Al-Sharq, pointing to the possibility of adding new stations if it is confirmed that the quantities produced from the new fields exceed the current liquefaction capacities.

El Molla’s statements to Al-Sharq came in the wake of the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the European Union (EU), Egypt, and Israel to increase Israeli gas exports to Europe through Egyptian natural gas liquefaction facilities, as part of the European bloc’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian imports of gas and oil.

This comes as Egypt is seeking to become a regional natural gas hub, and Egypt also has agreements with Cyprus and Greece regarding pipelines to supply gas to Egypt for the purpose of re-exporting it through Egyptian liquefaction facilities.

El Molla explained that the MoU will contribute to increasing the quantities of natural gas exported to Europe and that Egypt will start “studying adding one or two new liquefaction lines if needed when we reach full capacity from the current stations.”