The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, stated that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) will offer onshore and offshore exploration blocks in the Mediterranean, Delta, as well as the Western and Eastern Desert for bids from energy companies within the next two weeks, according to an interview by Gulf Intelligence with the minister.

During the interview, El Molla announced that Egypt’s natural gas exports are expected to rise by the restart of the Damietta liquefaction plant at the end of February 2021 to produce 4.5 million tons (mmt) per year, increasing the country’s export capacity to reach 12.

5 mmt.

El Molla also mentioned that “In 2020, the prices were very low and we were not able to export except for a few cargoes. But starting from October 2020 till now, we have already booked all our volumes to be exported from the Idku plant till the end of March.”

It should be mentioned that Egypt will become one of the top 10 liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters in the world with the Damietta and Idku liquefaction plants, according to Bloomberg data.