The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) resumed providing gas to all fertiliser plants at about 90% of the contracted amount, estimated at 600m cubic feet per day.
EGAS, however, said it cannot fulfil their expected needs due to the high consumption of gas by power plants.
An official in EGAS, who spoke to Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity, said that power plants’ consumption of natural gas rose to about 2.8bn cubic feet per day, compared to 2.65bn last week.
He added that power plants consume about 25,000 tonnes of fuel per day, up from 230,000 tonnes last week, in addition to 3,000 tonnes of diesel.
The official explained that the increase in weather temperatures have contributed to the increase of gas and diesel consumption by power plants, pointing out that the Ministry of Petroleum gives priority to power plants because they constitute a national security matter.
EGAS provides 1.2bn cubic feet of gas per day for homes, cars, and low-consumption industries, in addition to 60m cubic feet for National Cement (NCEM), Helwan cement plant, and Katameya cement factory, according to the official.
The official said the import of gas through the liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment in Ain Sokhna Port fell to 1bn cubic feet per day, compared with 1.15bn cubic feet earlier this week.
Egypt produces 3.8bn cubic feet of gas daily, compared to 4.2bn feet in 2015, due to the natural shortage in producing natural gas.
Egypt’s production of gas declines by 1.2bn cubic feet annually, while the total production of the compensatory wells does not exceed 700m cubic feet annually. The monthly shortage in Egyptian gas fields is estimated at 100m cubic feet.
