Egypt breaks LNG export records with eye on Europe

Cairo — At the end of January, the Gaslog Glasgow departed from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Damietta, Egypt, and set course for the Gate Terminal in Rotterdam, the only LNG import facility in the Netherlands. With a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, this was the first such shipment ever from Egypt to the Netherlands, which operates as a hub for the supply of this type of natural gas in the strategic northwest Europe.

The shipment symbolically opened the door to a new market at a particularly good time for Egyptian LNG exports. Last year, fueled by an unusually favorable context, Egypt recorded a 10-year high in LNG sales, a flow that local authorities hope to maintain at least in the short term as the country moves to position itself as a regional hub for the trade and distribution of natural gas and to become a major player in the LNG market.