Egypt has agreed to increase the quantities of natural gas imported from Israel by about 26% to reach 1.450 billion cubic feet per day during the first half of next year, instead of 1.15 billion cubic feet per day currently.

According to a government official who spoke to Bloomberg, the quantities of Israeli gas supplied to Egypt have currently exceeded the levels before the war on Gaza, as they rose by 15% on a monthly basis in January to record about 1.15 billion cubic feet per day, which will help the country increase its exports and secure part of the hard currency.

Egypt relies on Israeli gas to meet part of the local demand, exporting the surplus in the form of liquefied gas mainly to Europe, through liquefaction plants in Idku and Damietta with a production capacity of 2.1 billion cubic feet per day.

Egypt's imports of Israeli gas sharply declined last October with the halt of gas production operations from the Tamar field, following the outbreak of the war in Gaza, to record about 350 million cubic feet per day, after previously exceeding 900 million before the field’s production stopped on October 8.

According to the official, the increase in imports will come to Egypt after the American Chevron finishes increasing production at the Tamar gas field off the coast of Israel by about 60% during the first half of next year to 1.6 billion cubic feet per day.

Egypt began importing gas from Israel for the first time in 2020, in a deal worth $15 billion between Noble Energy (which was acquired by Chevron in 2020) and Delek Drilling on one side, and the Egyptian Dolphinous Holding Company on the other.