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According to a report on S&P Global’s website on January 14, due to factors such as a decline in domestic natural gas production and unstable supplies of pipeline gas from Israel resulting from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Egypt’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2025 reached a record level of 9.01 million tons, equivalent to 129 shipments. 90.9% of these imports came from the United States. LNG is likely to continue growing in 2026. Egypt’s domestic natural gas production has been declining for several years in a row, with the main reason being insufficient investment in exploration and development activities at the upstream level. The decline in production from the Zuhur gas field is particularly significant, as this field accounts for about one-third of Egypt’s total natural gas production. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to intermittent supply of pipeline gas from Israel to Egypt, further exacerbating Egypt’s energy shortage. Egypt, which was once a regional natural gas exporter, has now turned into a long-term LNG importer. Strong demand from Egypt and Turkey together support the LNG prices in the Mediterranean region, where these prices are higher than those in the Northwest Europe and Western Mediterranean markets. On January 13, the Eastern Mediterranean LNG benchmark price as assessed by Platts was $10.373 per million British thermal units, representing a premium of $0.25 per million British thermal units compared to the Northwest European market. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights’ CERA, Egypt’s total LNG imports are expected to reach 11.14 million tons in 2026, representing a 26.3% increase compared to 2025. (Pang Xiaohua)