By Anna Shiryaevskaya, Ruth Liao and Salma El Wardany (Bloomberg) — Three liquefied natural gas vessels are waiting outside Egypt’s import terminals as scheduling issues and a faster-than-expected seasonal demand decline in the North African nation reduces need for the fuel.

The tankers, which were expected to unload over the past six days, are anchored off Egypt’s terminals in the Red Sea, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows. One more vessel, Gaslog Gladstone, docked earlier Thursday after waiting 11 days. Two others are approaching the area.

The congestion arises as Egypt, which became a net importer of the fuel in 2024 and more than doubled its LNG imports this year, is struggling to correctly assess its demand and schedule deliveries, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The nation’s demand is highly volatile and dependent on the weather as well as global prices for the fuel. 

That’s a challenge for traders who have signed multiple supply deals with Egypt this year. While demand in the country remains fundamentally high as domestic production declines, chaotic delivery schedules highlight the unpredictable nature of the trade with the new importer. In July, some deliveries were delayed because new terminals had not yet started operating.

Egypt exported a rare LNG cargo this month even as imports began to decline, Bloomberg reported last week. Demand is usually seasonally higher in the summer because of high temperatures, but cooler-than-normal weather is forecast from the start of October. 

Egypt planned to import 48 shipments for the fourth quarter as part of the supply deals, including 18 cargoes in October, 15 in November and 15 in December, one of the people said. That’s down from 66 for the third quarter, a peak summer demand season. 

Now, the number of cargoes to be received in October has been revised down to 14 versus originally agreed 18. That’s also a decline compared with 19 cargoes agreed for September. Egyptian Natural Gas Co. has added two emergency shipments for next month, the person said. 

EGAS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Egypt’s LNG imports reached a record in August, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Deliveries have eased so far this month. 

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