Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and DNV sign MOU to develop strategies to decarbonize Egypt’s Petroleum sector

March 2, 2022

The MoU signed between DNV and EGAS in the presence of HE the Egyptian Minister of petroleum and gas and the Norwegian Embassy in Cairo is an important step to strengthen collaboration, and paves the way to great mutual achievements for energy transition and decarbonization in Egypt, where COP 27 will be held in November.

Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and DNV signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a supporting hub to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of decarbonizing the Egyptian Petroleum sector.

The MOU is in response to the growing market, public, and regulatory pressure on the oil and gas industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The purpose of the MOU is to support the development of national or regional strategies and roadmaps related to the Petroleum sector, and support EGAS’ energy transition plan, including the introduction of low carbon energy.

In addition, DNV will evaluate production, transportation, storage and end-use of low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives, as well as analyzing options for deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS).

The scope will also identify the necessary rules and regulations for energy sources including hydrogen/ammonia, find the optimum scenarios regarding transporting/exporting hydrogen produced in Egypt, repurposing of natural gas infrastructure/facilities for CO₂ use or low carbon hydrogen service/projects and finally apply the Certification and Accreditation Mechanism for the low-carbon hydrogen/ammonia value-chain.

Santiago Blanco, DNV — Santiago Blanco, Executive Vice-president and Regional Director Southern Europe, Middle East and Latin America, Energy Systems at DNV

“Our goal is to support nations like Egypt, leading companies and hard to abate sectors striving to go below zero before 2050. Those are key factors to achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. This memorandum of understanding is a positive commitment and will be a great hub for knowledge sharing in Egypt and beyond” said Santiago Blanco, Executive Vice-president and Regional Director Southern Europe, Middle East and Latin America, Energy Systems at DNV.

DNV’s recent Energy Transition Outlook report identified that by 2050 emissions in the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to be reduced by 10% compared with 2019. This is equal to energy-related emissions of 2.5 GtCO2/yr. The signing of the MOU and the activities this can bring show the intent of Egypt to contribute strongly to this reduction.