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Report: Egypt's imports of Israeli gas surged 18% in 2024

January 20, 2025 at 9:22 am

A view of the platform of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea is pictured from the Israeli northern coastal city of Caesarea on 19 December, 2019 [JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images]

Egypt’s imports of Israeli gas reached a record 981 million cubic feet per day (cfd) in 2024, marking an 18.2 per cent increase compared to the previous year, a new report has revealed.

Notably, December saw a record high with volumes climbing to 1.065 billion cubic feet per day. In stark contrast, imports were only at 202 million cubic feet per day in 2020.

A recent report from the energy news source MEES, cited by the local economic bulletin Enterprise yesterday, attributes this remarkable surge in imports to a growing gas deficit resulting from declining domestic production.

As of October, local gas output had fallen to a seven-year low of approximately 4.5 billion cubic feet per day – about 1.6 billion cubic feet short of meeting demand.

According to the report, NewMed Energy, the Israeli company that holds a 45.3 per cent stake in the Leviathan gas field, has already proposed to the Egyptian government plans to potentially double shipments to over two billion cubic feet per day by 2030.

However, challenges remain for increasing Israeli gas exports due to infrastructure limitations that may cap flow until late 2025.

On 19 December, the Israeli government approved plans for a third pipeline linking Israel and Egypt aimed at doubling Cairo’s current intake from Tel Aviv; approximately 10 billion cubic metres annually.

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