The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has announced that it will dispense with the Höegh Gallant floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a source at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) told Al Borsa.

The ministry will no longer use the ship, which is used to receive imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), by mid-2018. This comes after the successful linking of a number of new gas wells to production facilities, most notably north of Alexandria.

EGAS signed the five-year contract to rent the FSRU back in November 2014, meaning the contract term will finish in 2019. However, the source said that EGAS has reached an agreement with the Norwegian owner of the FRSU to rent the ship until mid-2018 instead.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, previously stated that Egypt will keep the FSRU for use in implementing the new gas market law, and in case the country needed to import LNG for use in electricity power plants as a result of high diesel and mazut prices, Al Masry Al Youm reported.