The two companies, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and Italy’s Eni, signed a contract yesterday in order to increase their gas production and export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Egypt to Europe.

The companies signed the agreement in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo by EGAS Chairman Magdy Galal and Eni’s Director General of biological help, ‘Guidi Brusco, within the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister, ‘Mostafa Madbouly’, their Petroleum Minister, Tarek El-Molla and Eni Ceo, Claudio Descalzi.

According to the Egyptian cabinet statement, the agreement had come within a framework of strategic partnerships between Egypt and Italy in many fields, primarily through the energy fields, where Eni is a strategic partner for the Egyptian petroleum sector.

The aim of the agreement is to use Egypt’s great potential in the field of research and investigation, especially in the Nile Delta, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Western Desert,” the statement added, stating that under the agreement, Egypt would launch “campaigns to boost the search and investigation operations in its current accommodation sectors and the areas it recently acquired.”

According to the interview, the cabinet described the deal as an opportunity to export shipments of liquefied gas from Egypt’s Damietta Gas Liquefaction Plant to Italy or Europe.

Since the time of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the international sanctions imposed on Moscow, many countries have been trying to find out the alternatives for gas importers to replace Russian supplies.

Russian gas amounts to 40 percent of Italy’s total gas imports. In a similar context, Italy signed a contract with Algeria on Monday to obtain further gas amounts of up to 9 billion cubic meters by 2023.