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Copelouzos said in a statement it entered into a “significant” strategic partnership with the Egyptian state gas company.
The signing took place in Egypt on Monday.
Panos Moschandreou, business development director of Copelouzos, and president of EGAS, Yasseen Mohamed, signed the agreement in the presence of Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, and other Egyptian officials.
According to Copelouzos, the two parties have agreed to establish a joint company that will focus on the marketing, supply, transportation, and regasification of Egyptian LNG.
“This gas will be promoted to eastern European countries through the FSRU LNG terminal of Gastrade in Alexandroupolis, making Greece a strategic energy hub,” Copelouzos said.
“The strong partnership of Copelouzos Group with EGAS underscores the strategic importance of Egypt in the broader region, with an emphasis on the liquefaction plants in Damietta and Idku, as well as the business opportunities that are opening up for new initiatives in the future,” the company said.
Elmina Copelouzou, the daughter of Dimitris Copelouzos and founder of Copelouzos, has a 20 percent stake in Gastrade.
Gastrade’s shareholders also include DESFA, DEPA, Bulgartransgaz, and GasLog.
Gastrade’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal off Alexandroupolis received its first commercial LNG shipment on October 3.
This is Greece’s first FSRU and the second LNG import facility, adding to DESFA’s import terminal located on the island of Revithoussa.
The Alexandroupolis LNG terminal has a capacity of up to 5.5 bcm.
On the other hand, EGAS has stakes in Egypt’s two LNG export plants, the Eni-led 5 mtpa Damietta LNG terminal and the Shell-led 7.2 mtpa Idku plant.
However, Egypt is now an LNG importer due to gas shortfalls in the country.
Egypt imports LNG via Hoegh LNG’s 170,000-cbm FSRU Hoegh Galleon in Ain Sokhna.
In May, Norwegian FSRU player Hoegh LNG confirmed it had signed a deal with Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) and EGAS to deploy the 2019-built FSRU to Egypt to address potential gas shortages and fuel power plants.
Egypt also imports LNG via Jordan’s Aqaba LNG terminal.
