Egypt will receive the first of nine agreed shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Rosneft in May, an official at the state gas board Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) told Reuters.

Last year, Egypt and Rosneft signed a memorandum of understanding for a slew of petroleum products as well as 24 LNG cargoes. Only nine of the 24 initially agreed cargoes were later inked into a final deal.

“We are receiving the first shipments of LNG from Rosneft this month,” said the EGAS official, declining to provide the value of the shipments or their size.

Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption. It is trying to speed up production at recent discoveries to fill its energy gap as soon as possible, according to Zawya reports.

Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, does not produce its own LNG yet but plans to launch production jointly with Exxon Mobil after 2018.