3 global firms awarded tender to supply Egypt with 5 LNG shipments

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Arab Finance: Three international companies have won a tender to supply Egypt with five shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in August and September, government official told Asharq Business.

These companies are Singapore's commodities company Trafigura, Swiss-based Dutch multinational energy and commodity trading company Vitol, and Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore, the source added.

This move is part of Egypt’s strategy to tackle its ongoing power outage crisis, the official explained.

The official also said that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), which handled the tender, secured distinctive prices and arranged for deferred payment terms of up to 180 days.

He noted that the contracted quantities, along with existing mazut supplies, are sufficient to meet electricity needs of fuel until next September.

The required needs for the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year are currently being assessed to issue a new tender for LNG shipments, as per the source.

The plan includes issuing new LNG import tenders every three months, depending on the electricity sector's needs, he said.

In June, Egypt agreed to purchase 21 LNG shipments for the summer, but the new tender indicates that gas and mazut consumption has surpassed government expectations.