EU becomes more reliant on Egypt's LNG exports: World Bank

The EU has significantly increased its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Egypt, among six countries, in 2022, the Information and Decision Support Centre said on Wednesday, citing a report by the World Bank (WB).

The European block became more reliant on gas imports from the US, Angola, Norway, Qatar, Egypt, and Azerbaijan.

The WB's report said that some countries, including Egypt and Algeria, are expected to reduce gas flaring in the coming period.

According to the report, gas flaring, the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction, occurs due to various issues, from market and economic constraints to a lack of appropriate regulation.

The WB noted that global gas flaring decreased by 3 percent to 139 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2022 from 144 BCM in 2021.

In February, the EU's Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson stated that Egypt is expected to maintain the "relatively high" volumes of LNG it delivered to Europe over the past year.

Egypt expects to produce about eight million tons of LNG in 2023 after discovering a new gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Narges area in January. The country's LNG exports increased by 14 percent year-on-year to 7.5 million tons in 2022.