Italian energy firm Eni said that the Damietta liquefaction plant in Egypt had produced and loaded its 500th LNG cargo since the start of operations in 2005.
The 5 mtpa facility located on the Mediterranean coast, about 60 km northwest of Port Said, started exporting LNG again in Februar 2021 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 2021.
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.
Since its restart in 2021, the export LNG facility exported 7.2 MT of LNG, according to a statement by Eni issued on Wednesday.
During 2022, Damietta LNG produced and exported some 4 million tons of LNG, which considered the largest volume in its almost 20-year history, making it the first LNG terminal in Egypt in terms of LNG exports and contributing to Egypt’s role as an energy hub in the Mediterranean, Eni said.
Around 60 percent of the total shipments from the LNG plant were delivered to Europe, the firm said.
Eni said that it is currently Egypt’s leading producer with an equity production of hydrocarbons of approximately 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The company claims it produced almost 60 percent of the total gas produced in the country last year.