Egypt is negotiating with Shell, BP, TotalEnergies and Hartree Partners to secure 15 to 18 LNG cargoes a month for at least three years, according to Reuters.
The proposed supply agreements could run for three to five years but have not been finalised. Egypt’s petroleum ministry and TotalEnergies did not respond to requests for comment, while Shell, BP and Hartree declined to comment.
The scale of the talks points to a sustained increase in Egyptian LNG demand as domestic gas production falls short of consumption. Reduced shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has also tightened supply and increased competition among buyers.
The contracts could cost Egypt between $8bn and $11bn a year at recent price levels, including premiums of about $1.50 per million British thermal units above the Dutch TTF gas benchmark.
Egypt’s monthly imported gas bill rose to about $1.65bn in March from around $560m before the disruption, despite comparable volumes.
The country imported 985bn cubic feet of gas between July 2025 and June 2026, including pipeline supplies from Israel and LNG cargoes. Imports are projected to reach 1.081tn cubic feet in the fiscal year ending June 2027.
Domestic gas production averaged less than 4.4bn cubic feet per day in the 2025-2026 fiscal year and is expected to decline to about 4.2bn cubic feet per day in the current year.
The talks follow previous purchases from the same group of suppliers. Egypt secured about 60 LNG cargoes from Shell and TotalEnergies in February 2025 under deals valued at approximately $3bn. Shell, TotalEnergies, BP and Hartree were also awarded cargoes in an Egyptian winter tender completed in September 2024.
Shell is a UK-incorporated energy and petrochemicals group with LNG and energy-trading operations.
BP is a London-based energy company with gas supply, trading and shipping activities.
TotalEnergies is a Paris-headquartered integrated energy company whose LNG portfolio stood at about 40m tonnes a year in 2024.
Hartree Partners is a privately owned energy and commodities trading company founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York. Its ownership includes its founding partners, senior employees and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.