Cyprus-Egypt Gas Pipeline to Cost $800 mln-$1 bln
A pipeline connecting Cyprus' Aphrodite gas field to Egypt's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities will cost between $800 million and $1 billion, Egyptian petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said on Monday.
Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natural gas and is hoping to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years.
Molla, speaking at a joint news conference with Cyprus energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, said Cypriot gas would be used in part for domestic consumption and in part for export.
Lakkotrypis said a final agreement on the pipeline would be signed as quickly as possible but did not specify when.
Egypt is hoping to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency.
It rapidly increased its production of natural gas in 2017 with four major new gas production projects coming online, some ahead of schedule. Its newly discovered fields include the mammoth Zohr field discovered by Italy's Eni in 2015.
Egypt is targeting about $10 billion in foreign investment in the oil and gas sector in the 2018/19 fiscal year that begins in July, Molla said last month, matching the figure expected for the current year.
Reporting by Ahmed Ismail
