DAMIETTA, Egypt, 24 January 2005 — Egypt’s first shipment of liquefied natural gas left the port of Damietta for Spain yesterday, opening up a new export sector crucial to the country’s economic future, the MENA agency reported.
“The year 2005 will be the year that Egypt joins the club of natural gas exporters. It is a historic moment for the Egyptian hydrocarbon sector,” said Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi as the giant gas carrier prepared to leave the port.
The shipment belongs to Spanish oil and gas firm Union Fenosa, which was part of the venture that built the Damietta facility on the Mediterranean coast.
Union Fenosa had signed in 2000 a deal with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to deliver 4.4 billion cubic meters (155 billion cubic feet) a year over 25 years to the Spanish LNG market.
Egypt’s only gas exports so far had been to Jordan through a pipeline inaugurated in July 2003 and which is eventually due to reach Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Turkey by 2006, and maybe eastern European countries at a later stage.
The inaugural export, initially due to leave by year’s end, gives a new dimension to Egypt’s growing gas sector.