Deja vu: Damietta LNG plant to reopen in 3Q2019? The Damietta liquefaction plant will reopen by the end of 3Q2019 after being offline for the past six years, an unnamed oil industry source tells Youm7. The facility, which produces around 5 mn tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year when operational, has been closed amid a long-running dispute between the Egyptian government and operator Union Fenosa Gas (UFG).

We’ve heard this one before: An oil ministry source said back in February that the plant would reopen in April following an agreement with UFG. This was proved wrong just two days later when UFG publicly denied reaching a settlement. Then last month Eni (a joint partner in UFG with Union Fenosa) said that the facility should open “soon this year”, and another source claimed that the facility would be operating at full capacity by 4Q2019. For the latest claim to be realistic, there needs to be a resolution to the five-year UFG dispute within the next four weeks. Forgive us if we keep our eyebrows raised on this one.