File Photo: Sumed port in Ain Sokhna. Photo courtesy of Egyptian Presidency.
The move comes amid rising energy demand in Egypt, with the financing expected to support the continued flow of LNG supplies to the domestic market.
The US LNG shipments are scheduled to reach Egypt between 2026 and 2027, under American global commodities firm Hartree Partners’ agreement with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
EXIM is the US’s independent official export credit agency, working to support and facilitate the country’s exports. The bank offers financing on export credit insurance, working capital, and loans, as well as direct loans.
This insurance comes as Egypt looks to increase its domestic energy production, secure more LNG shipments, and adjust its supply flows amid rising energy prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as Israel invoking a force majeure on its natural gas production, particularly from the Leviathan offshore field in the eastern Mediterranean, which applies to all its deals, including the gas deal with Cairo.
Moreover, the US-Israeli war on Iran is causing current disruptions in supply chains, rising risk levels, and maritime shipping and insurance costs and rerouting of vessels, which have pushed global prices of crude oil and petroleum products to levels not seen in years.
By the sixth week of the conflict, Egypt has, so far, implemented a backup plan to secure natural gas and petroleum products, it has increased fuel and gas prices by 14 percent to 30 percent as global crude prices surged, and introduced several measures to reduce consumption, including a nationwide temporary closure time of 9pm for one month.
This is to ensure grid stability and power supply while accommodating an expected six to seven percent rise in local electricity consumption this summer alone.
Egypt’s domestic production stands at almost 4.1 billion cubic feet per day, while its demand is around 6.2 billion cubic feet per day. This has prompted the ministry to continue drilling and developing exploratory wells in 2026 for LNG, under a five-year strategy to maximize resources and secure new reserves.
Egypt’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have increased by more than 300 percent over the past five years to EGP 356.5 billion in 2026, up from EGP 15.5 billion in 2021.
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