A source at EGPC revealed to Egypt Oil & Gas that the Ministry of Petroleum is in negotiations with a number of foreign oil companies to buy their share of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the growing needs of power plants and factories suffering shortages during the current fiscal year. The source added that the quantities being negotiated with foreign partners average 300mcf per shipment, for 3 monthly shipments.

The plan is to direct 30% of the acquired LNG to the industrial sector, and 70% to power plants to avoid blackouts for citizens. The 30% going to factories are subsidized and the owners will have to import the remainder of their needs, after agreeing to the tariff charged for using the national gas grid. Energy intensive factories will receive gas currently at a price of $7 per million BTUs, while Egypt imports at a cost of $13 per million BTUs.