Cairo and Doha have officially strengthened their energy partnership by signing a memorandum of understanding aimed at securing Egyptian supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for next summer. The agreement was initialled in Doha by Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, and Qatar's Minister of Energy Affairs and Chairman of QatarEnergy, Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi.
Specifically, the memorandum stipulates that QatarEnergy will supply up to 24 LNG cargoes to Egypt during the summer of 2026. Deliveries will be made to the Egyptian terminals of Ain Sokhna and Damietta. The two parties have already finalised an executive mechanism between QatarEnergy and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to manage these deliveries. This agreement also creates a framework for future discussions on longer-term supply contracts and further integration of gas infrastructure.
This cooperation is part of a broader dynamic. It follows talks initiated in May 2025 and comes at a time when Egypt is actively seeking to diversify its sources of gas imports. The country's domestic gas production has declined since the end of 2022, affecting its ambition to become a regional gas hub. Although Egypt already imports gas from Israel and Cyprus, Qatari deliveries will be crucial to meeting strong summer demand in 2026. At the same time, QatarEnergy, which already has a presence in six offshore exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean, plans to increase its investments and launch a new drilling campaign in the country over the next five years.