Egypt's gas production is set to remain stable in the current year at 6.4 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day, but the country has ambitious offshore exploration plans, the head of state-run operator EGAS said on Tuesday.
"For 2024 and 2025, we have a very good, ambitious drilling campaign. We are planning to drill around 30 wells, exploratory wells, most of them offshore, during current and next fiscal year," EGAS Chairman Magdy Galal told an energy conference in Cairo.
"So the expected reserves, I hope ... will be good", he added. Egypt's fiscal year runs from July to June.
Galal also said Egypt had the capacity to export about 13 million tonnes annually through its two liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, but expected to export about 8 million tonnes this year, barring any boost in gas imports from Israel.
Egypt began importing gas from Israel in 2020 as it sought to position itself as a regional energy hub, increasing exports of its own gas and Israeli gas as LNG.
Last June, it signed a framework deal with the European Union and Israel to expand gas exports, as Europe scrambled to find alternatives to Russian gas.
However, officials and industry sources have said that any significant expansion in export capacity under the deal with the EU and Israel would take time.
On Monday, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla put expected LNG production at 7.5 million tonnes.
Galal said two production trains could be added to Egypt's Idku LNG plant and three trains to its Damietta plant, bringing total capacity to more than 30 million tonnes.
Adding trains to the plants would need major investment and take several years, according to industry sources.
(Reuters - Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Mark Potter)
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