Mostafa Madbouly, Egypt’s Prime Minister, revealed on Monday, June 21st, that he is in talks with Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to export Egypt’s excess natural gas to Europe.
The ongoing conversation is part of a joint initiative by the two governments to promote energy cooperation and power network interconnection on the island of Crete, which lies midway between Egypt and mainland Greece.
If the agreement is reached, Egypt will export energy to Europe, taking advantage of existing synergies, particularly during the winter months, when demand for heating is high. In return, European countries would share their surplus electricity during the summer months, when demand in the Arabian Gulf rises due to increased air conditioning.
The procedure would entail coordinated effort in Europe and the Arabian Gulf, as well as the reinforcement or construction of new gas and/or power transportation infrastructure.
Egypt has been natural gas self-sufficient for the past three years, but its gas industry’s prospects foresee substantial surpluses in the coming years. The authorities are investigating the best way to monetise this surplus.
This announcement comes when certain countries in the Arabian Gulf are already looking into the prospect of integrating their energy networks to allow electricity to flow across borders.
