 will operate abroad.){kind=link}
Turkey will send one of its floating LNG terminals to Egypt under a new agreement with Cairo, marking the first time a Turkish Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) will operate abroad, officials announced Tuesday.
Turkey’s state energy company BOTAŞ has signed an agreement with Egypt’s Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to deploy a FSRU from its fleet to Egypt, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry announced.
A signing ceremony took place in Ankara under the auspices of Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi. BOTAŞ Chairman and General Manager Abdulvahit Fidan and EGAS Chairman and CEO Yassin Mohamed signed the agreement.
Minister Bayraktar called the deal “a flexible and efficient model that will support natural gas supply security for both countries.” He added, “With this agreement, an FSRU from BOTAŞ’s fleet will be deployed abroad on a temporary basis for the first time.”
Under the agreement the FSRU will provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification services in Egypt during the summer of 2025, when natural gas demand is expected to be high.
The vessel’s deployment is expected to contribute to Egypt’s energy security by increasing regasification capacity during peak periods.
An FSRU is a specialized maritime vessel or floating facility designed to handle LNG. It stores LNG at cryogenic temperatures (typically around -160°C) and regasifies it back into natural gas for injection into a country’s transmission network.
This process allows the gas to be distributed via pipelines to homes, businesses and industrial facilities.
Turkey currently operates three FSRUs in İzmir, Hatay and Saros Bay.
According to BOTAŞ, the contract marks the first time globally that an FSRU will operate in two different countries over multiple years to meet seasonally fluctuating demand, subject to extension by mutual agreement.
The agreement builds on a memorandum of understanding signed by BOTAŞ and EGAS in February 2024 that aimed to enhance cooperation in natural gas and LNG trading, infrastructure development and the sharing of technical expertise.
The deployment of the FSRU is seen as a concrete step toward realizing the goals outlined in that earlier agreement.
Egypt has been seeking to expand its LNG import infrastructure to meet growing domestic demand and to position itself as a regional gas hub.
Turkey, meanwhile, has been investing in its energy infrastructure, including FSRUs, to diversify its gas supply sources and strengthen its role in regional energy markets.
Additionally, Ministers Bayraktar and Badawi signed a separate memorandum of understanding on hydrocarbons and mining.
Under this memorandum, the two countries will investigate opportunities for hydrocarbon exploration, development and production in both offshore and onshore areas. Investments in the mining sector will be mutually encouraged, and technical cooperation in these fields will be enhanced.