Agreement to connect Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field with Egypt to be signed soon

CAIRO – 29 April 2018: Egypt will sign an agreement with Cyprus to connect Aphrodite gas field to Egypt during the coming few weeks, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said on Sunday.

In November 2017, Egypt and Cyprus had signed a preliminary agreement to transport natural gas from Cyprus to the North African country to be liquefied at Egypt’s LNG facilities and re-exported to Europe and other markets.

Both countries are planning to link Aphrodite field with Egypt's liquefaction plants in Idku and Damietta.

On November 20, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi visited Cyprus and discussed the construction of a pipeline to deliver gas to Egypt from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides visited Egypt this month to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

During his visit, Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail welcomed the reception of Cypriot gas, either through the gas pipelines with Jordan or through high-capacity gas liquefaction plants.

Egypt is moving towards self-sufficiency in gas and becoming the Middle East’s energy hub, with the country expecting to halt LNG imports by June 2018 after major gas discoveries.