After originally tendering to buy 14 shipments of fuel oil — a refined product used in power plants — Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. canceled about half of the plan issued in June for delivery this month, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information. The state firm is also asking traders to reschedule deliveries from an earlier tender, one of the people said.
Officials from Egypt’s two state energy companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Egypt has been an avid buyer of liquefied natural gas from trading houses including Trafigura Group and Vitol Group, stepping up the purchases last month after adding two floating terminals as it seeks to ensure electricity to a growing population. While fuel oil is also vital to meet the country’s power generation needs, getting the timing of deliveries right is proving tricky as its ports lack adequate infrastructure to receive and store large volumes.
Shortly after the fuel oil tender in June, Israel ordered the resumption of production at its biggest natural gas field following a truce with Iran, setting the stage for higher exports to Egypt. Benchmark European gas prices have also fallen by about 8% since, and are down more than 30% so far this year.
Seven cargoes of fuel oil totaling about 350,000 tons — roughly 2.2 million barrels — were canceled, with four for delivery to Alexandria, one to Suez and two to Ain Sokhna, one of the people said. Earlier in the year, EGPC had also issued a super-sized tender for 32 cargoes to be delivered in May and June.
Two oil tankers, the Clean Sanctuary and Seasalvia — both carrying fuel oil, according to Kpler — have been waiting off Egypt’s coast for weeks and will finally discharge later in August, while a third, the Dhan Laxmi, was only allowed to berth this week after arriving in June, the person said. Cargoes can potentially also be bought on the spot market.
Meanwhile, Egypt is seeking to reschedule LNG imports to cover power generation demand in late August after imports surged in July. Last year, Egypt turned from a net exporter into a net importer as domestic production slumped.
Until recently, the country’s LNG imports had been met through a single operational terminal, the Hoegh Galleon vessel, docked in Ain Sokhna. The Energos Eskimo and Energos Power were added last month, boosting the amount of cargoes the country can regasify.
(Bloomberg, August 08, 2025)