Egypt, Chevron sign MoU for cooperation on East Mediterranean Gas

CAIRO - 20 June 2022: The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company "EGAS" and Chevron Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the activities of transporting, importing and liquefying the export of East Mediterranean gas.

 

Chevron Corporation, which is an American multinational energy corporation, plans to drill its first exploration well in its concession area in the Mediterranean Sea next September.

 

Moreover, Chevron affirmed its readiness to play an active role and cooperate with regard to projects to improve the environmental conditions of the energy industry.

 

According to the agreement, the two companies will assess the potential opportunities to transfer the gas available in the eastern Mediterranean to Egypt to maximize its value by liquefying it to be re-exported and sold; So that it is economically feasible for both parties; including conducting any necessary study for the production of low carbon LNG.

 

On the other hand, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, held an expanded session of talks with the CEO of Chevron, Michael Wirth, where they discussed joint cooperation between the two sides and the American company's activities in the field of research and exploration.

 

Chevron participates with its investments in the search for gas in the western Mediterranean in the regions north of Sidi Barani, Narges, and North El Dabaa, and in Sector 1 in the Red Sea, which it won in the first bid put forward by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for the development and exploitation of oil and gas in the Red Sea regions, in addition to the activity of marketing high-quality oils.

 

East Mediterranean Gas

 

El-Molla stressed that the coordination and cooperation witnessed by the eastern Mediterranean region in exploiting its natural resources under the umbrella of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum provides more investment opportunities for cooperation with Chevron.

 

He said that the memorandum of understanding that was signed is one of the important steps in achieving this.

 

The minister pointed out that the two sides agreed to support efforts to develop oil wealth, marketing activities and increase oil exports, support Egypt's efforts in hosting the COP27 climate summit, and work together to reduce emissions and decarbonize within the framework of the presence of a committee on oil sector initiatives at the summit.

 

El-Molla explained that Egypt has a strong infrastructure that can be linked to the producing gas fields in the region, in addition to good relations with partners in the eastern Mediterranean region, pointing to the strong desire of the American company to expand its search and exploration operations in Egypt during the coming period.

Gas-Exporting Agreement

 

Earlier in June, The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla and Israel's Minister of Energy Karin Elharar signed an agreement on natural gas delivery to the European Union (EU) from the East Med region.

 

The agreement was signed during the ministerial meeting of the EMGF.

 

“With this EU-Egypt-Israel agreement we will work on the stable delivery of natural gas to the EU from the East Med region,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission tweeted on Wednesday.

 

“This will contribute to our EU energy security and we are building infrastructure fit for renewables - the energy of the future,” she added.

 

Egypt's exports of gas

 

Egypt’s total exports of natural gas amounted to 2.5 billion cubic meters by the end of 2020, acquiring about 1.3 percent of the total Arab countries’ exports of natural gas, according to the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) report for 2021.

 

Egypt's global share of total natural gas exports in 2020 reached about 0.53 percent, according to the data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) platform.