QatarEnergy deal aims to link Cyprus gas sites with Egypt

The US oil giant ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy have signed a memorandum of understanding with Egypt to evaluate linking their gas concessions in Cyprus to Egyptian processing facilities.

Egypt’s petroleum and mineral resources minister Karim Badawi signed the agreement with the two companies in Cairo, the ministry said on its website.

The agreement aims to “enhance cooperation between Egypt and the two companies, based on Egypt’s position as a regional energy hub, and to enable the utilisation of Egypt’s advanced infrastructure in the gas sector, especially gas liquefaction and re-export facilities,” the ministry said.

The agreement will also evaluate the possibility of linking Egypt’s facilities to Cypriot gas discoveries.

The ministry has been working with ExxonMobil for some time to explore mechanisms for leveraging the company’s gas discoveries in Cyprus, Badawi said.

He said the deal follows “successful” agreements with Eni, TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Shell to connect the Kronos and Aphrodite gas fields in Cyprus to the Egyptian infrastructure.

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Last month, the Aphrodite gas field consortium, comprising Chevron, Shell, NewMed Energy and the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company, signed a term sheet with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company for the sale of all recoverable gas from block 12 in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.

They also signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to establish the regulatory framework for constructing, financing and operating the export subsea pipeline.

TotalEnergies and Eni, partners in Cyprus offshore block 6, also signed a host government agreement with Egypt in early 2025 for Kronos gas to be processed in the existing Zohr facilities off the shore of Egypt for export to European markets.