Italian energy firm Eni said the Damietta liquefaction plant in Egypt has dispatched a total of 17 LNG cargoes in the first half of this year.
The 5 mtpa facility located on the Mediterranean coast, about 60 km northwest of Port Said, started exporting LNG again in February this year following a deal between Egypt’s EGPC and EGAS, Eni, and Naturgy.
It stopped operations in 2012 due to declining domestic production, but new finds such as Eni’s giant Zohr field in the East Mediterranean allowed the partners to restart the plant and ship the first cargo in February.
The LNG plant had loaded a total of 17 cargoes in the first half of this year, Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive told analysts during the firm’s second-quarter conference call last week.
He said this contributed to Eni’s asset gas production in Egypt reaching a record level of nearly 4 bcf.
In addition, Descalzi said Eni expects “nearly 30 additional cargoes” in the second half of this year.
To remind, Descalzi said in April the plant had shipped in total 9 cargoes since the restart.
Eni’s second-quarter LNG sales also rose to 2.2 million tonnes, up 50 percent when compared to the last year due to the rising volumes from the plant in Egypt.
The Damietta plant originally started production back in 2004 with the first cargo leaving in January 2005.
It consists of a single train, jetty, and two LNG storage tanks with a capacity of 300,000 cbm.
Following Naturgy’s departure, Eni owns 50 percent in SEGAS, the owner of the liquefaction plant, while EGAS owns 40 percent, and EGPC holds 10 percent.