Israeli natural gas flows to Egypt set to double as Chevron resumes Tamar production
(Bloomberg) 鈥 Israel鈥檚 natural gas flows to Egypt are expected to almost double and reach pre-war levels early next week, according to a person familiar with Egyptian imports, after a major offshore field resumed production on easing safety concerns.
Imports are expected to rise to 650 MMcfd on Thursday, and to the normal level of 800 MMcfd early next week, from about 250 MMcfd earlier in November, the person said, asking not to be named because the information isn鈥檛 public.
Egypt uses some Israeli gas to meet its domestic needs and exports the excess along with its own liquefied natural gas, primarily to Europe. The government is still assessing if the restoration of supplies from Israel will result in the North African nation resuming those onward shipments this winter because local consumption remains high, the person said.
Eni SpA, which holds stakes in the giant Zohr gas field in Egypt and in one of the country鈥檚 two LNG plants, expects exports from the country to resume 鈥渂y December, possibly January,鈥 Cristian Signoretto, the company鈥檚 deputy chief operating officer of natural resources, said at a conference in London Tuesday.
Chevron Corp. said Monday it has , which Israel had ordered shut because of security risks following Hamas鈥檚 Oct. 7 attack on the country. That left the market on edge about whether the conflict would disrupt regional energy flows with winter approaching in Europe.
In Egypt, the move led to more of the electricity shortages that have plagued the cash-strapped country since the summer.
Egypt鈥檚 LNG exports could be 40% lower over this winter than forecast a month earlier, according to BloombergNEF projections. The country shipped 80% of its LNG to Europe last year as the continent sought to replace Russian pipeline gas after Moscow鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
The East Mediterranean Gas pipeline that runs from Israel鈥檚 Ashkelon, just north of the Gaza Strip, to Egypt鈥檚 Arish has also resumed today, two people familiar with the operations said on Tuesday. Shipments were being redirected via a longer route through Jordan while the more direct EMG link was closed last month.