Egypt and Cyprus signed two commercial agreements for transporting natural gas from the Cypriot Cronos field to Egypt on the sidelines of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Conference and Exhibition (EMC 2025) held in Limassol, Cyprus on 20-21 October.
The first is a tariff agreement between Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Italian Eni and French TotalEnergies. The second is a handling, processing, and transportation agreement between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and IEOC (subsidiary of Eni in Egypt), Eni in Cyprus, and TotalEnergies. The two deals set out the operational and commercial frameworks governing the transportation, supply, processing, and liquefaction of the gas for export, as well as the utilization of Egypt’s natural gas infrastructure for the project, according to the Ministry’s statement.
These agreements follow a previous agreement and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Egypt and Cyprus signed in February to begin developing the Cypriot natural gas discoveries using Egyptian infrastructure. The agreement, signed between Egypt, Cyprus, Eni, and TotalEnergies, the main operators of the Cronos natural gas field, during the EGYPES 2025 conference, states that the gas from the Cronos gas field will be transported and processed at Egypt’s Zohr field facilities, then liquefied at the Damietta LNG plant for export to European markets. The MoU also involved the Aphrodite gas field, another significant gas discovery in Cyprus, operated by Chevron which is also planned to send its gas to Egypt for processing and export.
In his opening remarks at EMC 2025, Badawi stated that joint efforts between Egypt and Cyprus over the past few months have yielded significant progress across commercial, technical, and investment tracks, following the governmental agreement signed in February. He highlighted that their partnership in natural gas stands as a model for successful regional cooperation that evolved from shared visions into practical implementation, advancing both countries’ goals for energy security and mutual economic benefit.
The Minister further held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of EMC 2025 to discuss enhancing regional cooperation in the domain of natural gas. The Minister’s initial meeting was with George Papanastasiou, the Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce, and Industry, where both Ministers asserted the significance of Egyptian-Cypriot collaboration in bolstering regional energy security. They also reviewed the progress made in their joint project.
Badawi also met with executives from Eni, TotalEnergies, and Chevron to discuss strengthening existing partnerships and review their operations in Egypt as well as future exploration and production plans.
