Italian energy firm Eni reported higher LNG sales in the second quarter, boosted by the restart of operations at the Damietta liquefaction plant in Egypt.
In the second quarter, Eni sold 3 bcm or about 2.2 million tonnes of LNG, a rise of 50 percent when compared to the last year.
Furthermore, LNG sales rose in the first half of this year as well. Eni sold 5.2 bcm in the January-June period, an increase of 16 percent when compared to the same period in 2020, the company said in its financial report.
Eni attributed the rise to higher volumes of LNG coming from the 5 mtpa Damietta facility located on the Mediterranean coast, about 60 km northwest of Port Said.
The plant 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.
Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi said in May the plant had shipped nine cargoes since February. He also said Eni had expected around 40 cargoes to leave the facility during this year.