Egypt’s state gas company, EGAS, increased fuel supplies to conventional power plants by about 12% in July compared with the same month last year, as electricity demand climbed sharply during the current heat wave, a source familiar with fuel distribution at the Petroleum Ministry told Al Manassa.
The move comes as the government tries to contain a soaring petroleum import bill after military tensions between the US and Iran pushed up global energy prices. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said earlier that Egypt’s monthly natural gas import bill had exceeded $1.6 billion.
The source, who requested anonymity, said the electricity ministry asked to increase natural gas supplies for power generation to about 3.7 billion cubic feet per day this month, up from about 3.3 billion cubic feet per day during the same period last year, an increase of 400 million cubic feet per day.
The source added that the petroleum ministry met the higher demand while also increasing fuel oil supplies to power plants. Average daily fuel oil consumption rose from 14,000 metric tons to 20,000 metric tons, an increase of more than 42%, to support dual-fuel plants and avoid any potential shortfall in gas supplies.
Natural gas remains the primary fuel for combined-cycle and thermal power plants, while fuel oil serves as a backup fuel to ensure grid stability during peak demand, the source explained.
Higher fuel allocations were needed to meet demand on the national electricity grid, which exceeded 37,400 megawatts this month, up from 35,500 a year earlier, the source told Al Manassa. Electricity demand is expected to reach a record 42,000 megawatts in the summer of 2026.
The source attributed the limited power outages reported in some governorates last week to technical issues after some generators and transformers went offline because of extreme heat, adding that replacement generators had been deployed to prevent longer outages.
Separately, another EGAS source told Al Manassa that the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to bring seven new gas wells online over the next four months.
The move is expected to provide about 20% of the natural gas volumes Egypt currently has to import to cover its supply shortfall.
The government has also increased natural gas supplies to fertilizer and petrochemical plants by about 17% in April compared with March, while raising the price of natural gas supplied to factories by about 21% in April to $8.50 per million British thermal units.
