Egypt and Cyprus have agreed to establish a Cyprus-based company to construct and operate a subsea natural gas pipeline linking the Aphrodite gas field to Egypt, in a project expected to exceed $2 billion in investments.
According to a senior Egyptian government official cited by Asharq Business with Bloomberg, the Cypriot side will bear the full cost of implementing the offshore pipeline. Egypt’s East Mediterranean Gas Company will hold a 10% ownership stake in the newly established company overseeing the project.
The planned subsea pipeline will extend approximately 170 kilometers through deep Mediterranean waters and is designed to transport around 800 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas from the Cypriot field directly to Egypt.
The project represents a significant step in advancing Eastern Mediterranean gas cooperation and reinforcing Egypt’s position as a regional gas processing and export hub.
The official indicated that gas transmission from the Aphrodite field to Egypt is expected to begin by 2030, reflecting the timeline required for offshore infrastructure development and field production readiness.
Once transported to Egypt, the gas will be processed at the Zohr gas field onshore treatment facilities before being injected into the national gas grid to meet domestic demand.
Surplus volumes are expected to be exported via Egypt’s liquefaction terminals, including the Idku LNG Terminal and Damietta LNG Terminal, strengthening the country’s LNG export capacity.
The agreement underscores deepening energy cooperation between Cairo and Nicosia, as both countries seek to monetize offshore gas reserves through shared infrastructure and export routes. For Cyprus, routing gas through Egypt provides access to existing liquefaction facilities, avoiding the need for costly standalone LNG infrastructure. For Egypt, the project reinforces its strategy of leveraging existing processing and export assets to consolidate its role in regional gas trade.
If completed as planned, the pipeline will mark one of the most significant cross-border gas infrastructure projects in the Eastern Mediterranean this decade.
