Egypt has decided to postpone plans to charter a third floating regasification unit (FSRU), the Al Borsa newspaper reported on Thursday citing Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla as saying.
The third FSRU that will be used as an import terminal was expected to arrive at the end of June next year to handle a surge in LNG demand from new power plants coming online.
However, these plans have been delayed as results of a reevaluation of natural gas projects that will supply the power grid showed that the domestic market did not need to increase the imports of gas next year, the report said.
The Minister did not reveal how long the arrival of the third FSRU would be delayed.
The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) had already held a tender earlier this year for the FSRU. Companies that expressed interest in providing the regasification unit included Höegh LNG, BW, and Excelerate Energy.
Egypt, which turned from a net exporter to a net importer, started importing the chilled fuel in April 2015 via FSRU Höegh Gallant located in Ain Sokhna Port. FSRU BW Singapore, used as Egypt’s second LNG import terminal in Ain Sokhna, began operations in October last year.
The country recently selected its suppliers for about 60 cargoes of the chilled fuel it sought for 2017-18 through what was claimed to be the largest mid-term tender ever issued.
LNG World News Staff