EU seeks more Egyptian LNG despite demand concerns

The EU is seeking to maintain high volumes of LNG from Egypt despite growing indications that the country could suffer another gas crunch in the near future. Both Brussels and Cairo are also looking to a potential enlargement of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) to include North African states.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told the EGYPS conference in Cairo that the EU recognized “Egypt’s role growing into a regional gas hub” and outlined that the new EU Energy Platform would be launching its “joint purchasing scheme covering about 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas."

LNG markets would be the main target of the broad EU scheme, Simson said, and referring to Egypt, added that “this is a significant opportunity to strengthen our energy ties further.”