据油气新闻1月16消息称，周三，埃及开始从以色列最大的海上气田利维坦进口天然气，埃及政府希望此举将有助于该国成为地区能源中心。
在地中海最大气田的发现推动下，埃及天然气供应迅速增长，在2018年底从净进口国转变为出口国。
埃及希望其基础设施和地理位置将帮助其成为中东、非洲和欧洲之间能源贸易的纽带。
至关重要的是，埃及有两个液化天然气(LNG)工厂已经闲置或以低于其潜在产能的速度运行，它们可以用于出口。
埃及大部分的天然气出口是从其Idku液化终端运来的液化天然气，该液化终端由埃及液化天然气公司经营，埃及液化天然气公司是国有的埃及通用石油公司、EGAS、荷兰皇家壳牌、马来西亚国家石油公司和Engie组建的合资企业。
据埃及液化天然气公司的网站称，该公司拥有两条运行中的液化天然气生产线，每条的产能为360万吨。该公司还可以容纳四条生产线。
埃及在达米埃塔有第二家天然气液化工厂，自2013年2月天然气产量下滑、天然气出口转向国内市场以来，该工厂一直处于闲置状态。
这也是埃及和拥有多数股权的意大利-西班牙联合天然气公司(UFG)之间争执的中心。
政府网站显示，达米埃塔的年生产能力高达500万吨，可储存13万吨液化天然气。
根据EGAS的年度报告，在截至6月的2018/19财年，埃及出口了相当于1728亿立方英尺(bcf)的液化天然气。同期，埃及还通过管道向约旦出口了530亿立方英尺的天然气，并进口了516亿立方英尺的液化天然气。
曹海斌 摘译自 油气新闻
原文如下：
Egypt’s push to be east Mediterranean gas hub
Egypt began importing gas from Israel’s largest offshore gas field, Leviathan, on Wednesday, a step Cairo hopes will help it become a regional energy hub.
Rapid growth in Egypt’s natural gas supplies, boosted by the discovery of the Mediterranean’s largest field, turned it from a net importer to exporter in late 2018.
Egypt hopes its infrastructure and location will help it become a link for energy trading between the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Crucially, Egypt has two liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants that have been idled or running at less than their potential capacity and can be used for exports.
The bulk of Egypt’s gas exports is liquefied natural gas (LNG) sent from its Idku liquefaction terminal, run by Egyptian LNG, a joint venture between the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and EGAS, as well as Royal Dutch Shell, Petronas and Engie.
It has two operational LNG trains, each with a capacity of 3.6 million tonnes, according to Egyptian LNG’s website. The site has room for an additional four trains.
Egypt has a second gas liquefaction plant at Damietta that has been idle since February 2013 after gas production slipped and the government diverted gas exports to the domestic market.
It has also been at the center of a dispute between Egypt and Italian-Spanish company Union Fenosa Gas (UFG), which has a majority stake.
Damietta has an annual capacity of up to 5 million tonnes and can store 130,000 tonnes of LNG, government websites show.
Egypt exported the equivalent of 172.8 billion cubic feet (bcf) LNG in the 2018/19 fiscal year ending in June, according to EGAS’s annual report. Egypt also exported 53 bcf to Jordan by pipeline and imported 51.6 bcf of LNG in the same period.
