On Sunday, October 20th, DESFA signed key Cooperation Agreements with Egypt’s leading natural gas companies, EGAS and GASCO, on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference (MoC) in Alexandria (October 20-22). The event, held under the auspices of Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, featured DESFA CEO Maria Rita Galli participating in a Leadership Plenary Session focused on attracting investments in the Mediterranean energy sector, alongside distinguished speakers from the Egyptian gas market.
DESFA signed a Cooperation Agreement with EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company), the company responsible for organizing and managing all natural gas activities in Egypt. The agreement signed by DESFA’s CEO, Maria Rita Galli, and EGAS’s Executive Managing Director, Yasseen Mohamed, in the presence of Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi and Greece’s Secretary General for Energy and Mineral Resources, Aristotelis Aivaliotis, covers a range of mutual interests in the field of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). It foresees enhanced cooperation between the two companies to assess the CCUS market in Greece, Egypt, EU and beyond, identify potential areas of collaboration (commercial and business models, regulatory framework), exchange relevant expertise, evaluate the prospects and total costs of the value chain for CO2 storage in Egypt, and map out the bottlenecks to further developing the CCUS value chain. DESFA and EGAS also agree to establish a Joint Liaison with the national and European authorities to ensure a more effective partnership between Egypt and the EU for the development of the CCUS market.
Similarly, DESFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GASCO, Egypt’s natural gas transmission system operator. The MoU signed by DESFA CEO, Maria Rita Galli, and GASCO’s Chairman and Managing Director, Eng. Yasser Salah El-Din, aims to promote cooperation between the two companies in areas of common and mutual interest, serving as a basis for intensified future cooperation between DESFA and GASCO in exploring the development of the necessary gas infrastructure for the transmission of natural gas, hydrogen and renewable gases to other countries. The two sides express their commitment to the development of a long-term partnership, agreeing to investigate the technical requirements for potential new connections, pipelines, interconnectors or enhancements of the national networks, with respect to natural gas, hydrogen and renewable gases.
To that end, DESFA and GASCO will exchange technical and operational expertise in gas transmission and processing, collaborate – through joint ventures or technology sharing – on innovative decarbonization solutions and green energy initiatives, such as hydrogen and CCUS projects, and on developing the necessary infrastructure for CCUS and the integration of renewable energy. They agree to cooperate on regulatory compliance, market analysis and risk management by sharing relevant insights to optimize their market strategies and work for the alignment of regulatory frameworks to facilitate cross border gas flows and investments. A key component of the MoU between DESFA and GASCO is collaboration on enhancing LNG infrastructure, including storage, regasification, and transportation, as DESFA’s significant experience in managing LNG import terminals and regasification projects (Revithoussa LNG Terminal, KIPIC LNG Import Terminal in Kuwait) could be leveraged to optimize GASCO’s LNG supply chain. Finally, the two companies will explore potential collaboration on integrating other markets in the Eastern Mediterranean, strengthening regional energy security and optimizing energy supply routes, while working on the digitalization of the operation & maintenance of natural gas networks. A Joint Working Group will oversee the implementation of these initiatives. In light of these significant milestones, during her intervention at the Mediterranean Offshore Conference (MoC), the CEO of DESFA, Mari Rita Galli highlighted the critical aspect of cooperation between Greece and Egypt to ensure security of supply for the region and advance our decarbonization efforts, with Greece serving as a conduit for exporting energy from Egypt to Europe.