The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (EGAS) will purchase 12 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from multiple European firms, sources told Reuters.

The Europeans companies are Gas Natural Fenosa, Trafigura, Vitol, and Glencore, according to Reuters.

Gas Natural Fenosa is a Spanish natural gas company. The other three firms are Swiss trading houses.

The final breakdown of cargoes is unclear. Reuter’s sources, however, believe that EGAS will purchase five cargos from Fenosa, three cargoes from Trafigura, three cargoes from Vitol, and one cargo from Glencore.

The LNG will arrive in Egypt during the first quarter of 2018. Nine cargoes will be processed through Egypt’s two floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) and the remaining three will be imported via Jordan’s FSRU in Aqaba, according to Reuters.  

The tender was announced in mid-October. The deadline to submit a bid was October 31th, according to Amwal Al Ghad.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources spent close to $2.4 billion on LNG imports during fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 to meet Egypt’s domestic demand, an EGAS official previously told Al Mal News.

During FY 2017/2018, expenditures on LNG are expected to fall to $1.8 billion, according to the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, who explained that the ministry has set a plan to import a maximum of 80 cargoes.