Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Israel has suspended natural gas exports to Egypt indefinitely starting Saturday morning following the outbreak of war in the region, putting additional pressure on Egypt’s energy system, a government official said.
According to the official, about 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of gas flows from the offshore Tamar and Leviathan fields in the Mediterranean have been halted. Israeli authorities invoked the force majeure clause in supply contracts, citing exceptional circumstances linked to the ongoing conflict.
The disruption comes after a large-scale joint military operation by the United States and Israel against Iran earlier on Saturday, which triggered retaliatory actions and heightened regional tensions.
Force majeure clause activated
The official said Israel formally notified Egypt of the suspension, relying on contractual provisions that allow either party to suspend obligations such as supply or purchase, in the event of extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances including war, natural disasters, strikes or government decisions.
Egypt has increasingly relied on Israeli gas imports in recent years. Previous data indicated imports rose about 8 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025 to reach roughly 344 billion cubic feet, up from 319 billion cubic feet a year earlier.
Egypt moves to secure alternative supplies
In response to the cutoff, Egyptian authorities have begun rescheduling contracted liquefied natural gas cargoes to boost available volumes and cover the supply gap, the official said.
Egypt has already chartered five floating storage and regasification units to strengthen supply security. These vessels are operating primarily at Ain Sokhna port with a combined capacity of roughly 2 billion cubic feet per day. Additional regasification capacity is deployed at Damietta and at Aqaba in Jordan.
The government is also planning to import an additional 75 LNG cargoes at an estimated cost of $3.75 billion to reinforce energy availability.
Supply-demand gap widens
Egypt’s current domestic natural gas production is estimated at about 4.1 billion cubic feet per day, while local demand stands near 6.2 billion cubic feet daily, creating a structural gap that imports help to bridge, particularly during periods of fluctuating temperatures and peak electricity consumption.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly reviewed fuel reserve levels with Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi, who said petroleum product stocks remain at safe levels and that supply chains continue to operate regularly.
Officials said contingency plans have been implemented in recent months to enhance readiness for potential disruptions in the energy sector.
Mazut use for power generation surges
Separately, a government official revealed that Egypt has increased the use of mazut fuel oil in power generation by about 333 percent starting Saturday.
Daily mazut consumption for electricity production has been raised to approximately 26,000 tons, compared with about 6,000 tons under normal conditions, as power plants switch partially from natural gas to fuel oil.
The move is intended to compensate for the loss of Israeli gas supplies and maintain electricity generation levels.
The official added that Egypt typically consumes about 110 million cubic meters of gas per day alongside 6,000 tons of mazut under normal operating conditions.
Authorities emphasized that close coordination is ongoing between the petroleum and electricity ministries and stressed that there are currently no plans to implement power load shedding despite the supply disruption.
