Damietta LNG Partners Close Settlement Deal

Italy's Eni has announced the closure of a deal that ends a long-standing dispute over the Damietta LNG plant in Egypt, following the terminal's restart in late February.

It said March 1o that the agreement came "at an important time when, thanks in part to the rapid entry into production of Eni's recent natural gas discoveries, especially from the Zohr and Nooros fields, Egypt has regained full capacity to meet domestic gas demand and can allocate excess production for export through LNG facilities."

Under the agreement, reached in December, Spain's Naturgy has exited the project and its 40% share has been divided between Eni and Egyptian partners Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (Egas) and Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC). In return, Naturgy is receiving $600mn in cash.

Eni now owns a 50% interest in Damietta LNG, while Egas has 40% and EGPC has 10%. The 5mn metric ton/year plant was closed in 2012 as Egypt had to divert gas away from the export stream to meet domestic demand.

Damietta LNG loaded its first LNG cargo on February 22, followed by a second on March 4. A third is currently being loaded, which will be sold directly by Eni to its customers in Europe.