Egypt has issued an executive regulation allowing the private sector to import natural gas directly, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office.
Egypt’s parliament last year passed a law establishing a gas regulatory authority that the government hopes will attract greater private sector participation in the country’s rapidly expanding gas sector. The executive regulation issued last week activates this law.
The newly established authority and the law both pave the way for private sector companies to import and distribute gas within the country. This step marks liberalizing the process of trade in energy; which means International private companies can import gas from abroad for their own needs, supply industrial and commercial consumers in Egypt, or liquefy gas for export purposes.
In light of the above Dolphinus Holdings signed a $15 billion deal on Monday with Israel’s Delek Group Ltd and Texas-based Noble Energy Inc (the companies operating Tamar and Leviathan offshore gas fields – with half coming from each field) for the purchase of around 64 billion cubic metres of gas over a decade.
That said it seems obvious that Egypt launched its Energy Hub with a bold deal, yet building an energy hub means creating a regional point for commercial energy trade, creating a value chain stretching from gas wells to gathering pipelines , processing and storage facilities, transmission pipelines , distribution pipelines , consumers of fuel and feedstock to producers and consumers of intermediate and final products.
Setting up a network of buyers and sellers is undoubtedly as critical for the business as much as building the hub’s infrastructure this within the context of business development. “Egypt is becoming a real gas hub,” Yossi Abu, CEO of Delek subsidiary Delek Drilling LP , told Reuters. “This deal is the first deal of potentially more to come.” On the other hand, Reuters reported that an Egyptian government official who declined to be identified said the deal does not mean Egypt itself would import any gas from abroad.
