The second shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will arrive to the gasification ship at Ain Sokhna Port by mid-November, loaded with about 170,000 cubic metres of LNG; enough to provide 500m cubic feet per day for a week.
The gasification ship started pilot operations with the first shipment received last month, Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Khaled Abdel Badie told Daily News Egypt. The actual operation and pumping gas into the national network is planned for next week, after concluding the pilot programme.
The ship will operate at a capacity of 500m cubic feet of gas per day and the quantity may increase if needed to about 600m cubic feet, as per the agreement with the Singaporean operator BW.
The ship arrived at Ain Sokhna Port last Wednesday but was unable to dock in the specified pier as the dredging work was being completed.
Abdel Badie said the ship can receive up to about 700m cubic feet of gas per day to pump into the national network. EGAS signed a contract with Singaporean gas company BW to rent the second gasification ship for five years.
EGAS chose seven proposals out of a total of 12 offers to supply 55 LNG shipments starting November 2015 until December 2016. It ruled out a number of foreign companies that applied to the tender since their proposals came with different requirements than the ones established.
Abdel Badie said EGAS chose the least expensive price to meet the domestic consumption of natural gas during the upcoming period, and the number of shipments ranges from four to five per month, each at 170,000 cubic metres.
The second tender had the same technical and financial conditions as the first, which was issued in October 2014.
Abdel Badie said these shipments are to supply the local market’s LNG requirements and fill the current gap between domestic production and consumption of natural gas until new gas field development projects are completed.
