By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Mar. 21�Eni SPA subsidiary Snam SPA, BP PLC and Egyptian General Petroleum Co. have signed an agreement for the development of a liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt and the marketing of its production
The companies plan to set up a project company to perform planning, construction, and infrastructure management for the proposed plant, to be built on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast near Damietta's harbor. It will have initial capacity of 4.5 billion cu m/year. Production is expected to begin in 2004.
Eni and BP will market the LNG, mostly in Euro-Mediterranean markets, said Eni. The Italian company said it has already contributed a Port Said-El Arish gas pipeline to the country's gas infrastructure.
The plan provides an outlet for the increasing quantities of natural gas from offshore fields in the Nile Delta.
