By: OrePulse

Egypt's imports of natural gas from Israel reached a record 1.051 billion cubic meters (bcm) in August 2026, a 153% increase from the same month a year earlier, according to monthly trade data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).

The August 2026 volume compares with 687 million cubic meters (782.3 million cubic feet per day) of Israeli gas imported by Egypt in August 2025, the JODI figures showed. The year-on-year jump added roughly 364 million cubic meters to Egypt's monthly intake of Israeli pipeline gas.

Over a longer span, the increase was more moderate: cumulative imports of Israeli gas for the first eight months of 2026 rose 4% year-on-year to 6.38 bcm, up from 6.16 bcm over the same period of 2025, an increase of about 220 million cubic meters, according to the data. The gap between the 153% single-month jump and the 4% year-to-date growth rate indicates that August's surge was concentrated late in the period rather than spread evenly across the year.

Including liquefied natural gas alongside pipeline supplies, Egypt's total natural gas imports in August 2026 climbed more than 20% year-on-year to 3.02 bcm, up from 2.51 bcm a year earlier, the JODI data showed, an increase of about 510 million cubic meters.

The rise in pipeline gas imports from Israel has been linked to accelerated implementation of a $35 billion supply agreement between the two countries. The deal, signed in 2025, extends an earlier agreement dating to 2019 under which Israel has supplied Egypt with gas from the Leviathan field, and envisages delivery of up to 130 bcm of gas from the field through 2040.

JODI data also showed that Israeli gas imports fell to their lowest monthly level of 2026 in March, at 161 million cubic meters, after supply from the Leviathan field was temporarily interrupted. Supply later resumed, and import volumes recovered over the following months, culminating in the August record.

Egypt also continued exporting pipeline gas to Jordan in August 2026, with volumes holding steady at 31 million cubic meters, unchanged from the same month a year earlier, according to the data.

The JODI figures, which track both pipeline and liquefied natural gas flows into and out of Egypt, are compiled from monthly energy trade data reported by national authorities. Taken together, the August data showed that Israeli pipeline gas and seaborne LNG both contributed to the year-on-year rise in Egypt's total natural gas imports that month, with the Israeli pipeline volume rising at a sharply faster rate than the overall import total.