Italian major Eni has re-started operations from its Damietta liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt, nine years after being left idle.

Alessandro Puliti, Eni's chief operating officer of natural resources, said at the end of last week that the plant began production in January and “has already produced LNG in enough quantity to offload the first cargo in the very next few days".

“Our plan is to have it in production throughout the year, especially during the winter of 2021-2022 and also the winter of 2022-2023,” he told analysts during Eni’s strategy day on 19 February.

In a statement issued on 22 February, Eni said the first LNG cargo was successfully produced and lifted.

Restart of the plant, located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, gives extra export options to Egypt which, reported Platts last month, has a surplus of gas mainly due to production from Eni's huge offshore Zohr gas field and imports from Israel.

Puliti said the plant’s revival “will certainly boost our ability to export LNG and, indirectly, the production of Zohr".

Output from Zohr, he added, reached a record level early this month of 3.2 billion cubic feet per day.

However, Puliti said average production from Zohr in 2021 is expected to be 2.7 Bcfd because of reduced gas demand in the summer.

“Nevertheless, this is much more than the 2.1 Bcfd average production that was done in 2020 when gas demand in Egypt was deeply depressed,” he remarked.

The facility’s revival was expected this quarter after Eni’s signing last year of deals with Egypt’s government, state-owned players Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Egyptian Natural Gas (Egas) and Spain’s Naturgy.

Eni said at the time that these agreements would pave the way for a resumption of operations at Damietta, which is owned by SEGAS consortium and has a capacity of 7.56 billion cubic metres per annum of gas.

Eni's 22 February statement said "at this stage, the agreements have already received all the authorisations of the competent authorities and its final closing is expected in the first half of March."

Once ratified, Eni will have a 50% share in SEGAS, with EGAS on 40% and EGPC on 10%.

The Damietta plant has been idle since 2012, when gas shortages forced the Egyptian government to halt supplies.

LNG

Nine years later: Damietta LNG plant in Egypt starts-up after decade in doldrums