Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi has held talks today with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi around gas and exports.
Eni has taken a leading role in Egypt’s gas sector following its discovery of the major offshore Zohr field in 2015. At its recent capital markets day, Eni officials talked of maximising gas flows to Europe – singling out Egypt as a major source.
Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla also participated in discussions.
Eni and the Egyptian officials talked of Egypt’s plans to become a regional gas hub, particularly in relation to its existing LNG plants.
Eni set the stage for a restart of the Damietta LNG facility following a deal with Naturgy in early 2021. The plant shut down in 2012.
In addition to exports, Eni also noted the role of gas in the local market. The company said it provides 80% of gas for the domestic electricity market.
Descalzi also talked about decarbonisation, in particular carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen. Eni is working on a blue ammonia project at Damietta. The first phase of operations can capture 5 million tonnes of CO2 in total.
Alongside its decarbonisation plans, Eni remains actively engaged in the upstream. Egypt recently awarded five licences to Eni, close to existing plants.
These are in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Western Desert. At the time, the company said these would help sustain local supplies and LNG exports.