CAIRO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Egypt and Cyprus signed

agreements on Monday enabling the export of gas from Cyprus's

offshore fields to Egypt for liquefaction and re-export to

Europe, as both countries seek to bolster the Eastern

Mediterranean's role as an energy hub.

The deals signed at the 2025 Egypt Energy Show formalise a

long-anticipated plan to link Cypriot reserves to Egypt's

liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, a move that leverages

Egypt's existing infrastructure to process and ship natural gas

to European markets.

Monday's agreements involve gas extracted from one Cypriot

site, Cronos Block 6 - now under licence to a consortium of

Italy's Eni and France's Total - to be

processed at Egypt's Zohr facilities before being liquefied at

Damietta and exported to Europe.

A second memorandum of understanding outlines a framework of

processing gas from Cyprus' offshore Aphrodite field, under

licence to a Chevron ( CVX )-led consortium, which will also be

sent to Egypt for processing.

The east Mediterranean has yielded some major gas

discoveries in recent years, while a disruption in energy

supplies from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has

sharpened Europe's attention on securing supplies elsewhere.

"The essence of these agreements is not limited to promoting

the exploitation of deposits, but broadens the prospects for

energy cooperation with Egypt, while contributing to regional

stability and strengthening our country's geopolitical position

in the Eastern Mediterranean," a statement from Cyprus's

Presidency said.

Cypriot officials have previously said they expect gas from

Block 6 Cronos to possibly come online in 2026 or 2027. Cronos

gas in place is estimated at more than 3 trillion cubic feet

(tcf).

Aphrodite holds an estimated 3.5 tcf of gas. Israel's NewMed

, a member of the consortium, expects gas to come

online in 2031, it said in a stock exchange filing on Sunday.

In a Monday filing update, it said the 'non-binding' MoU

envisaged that Egypt's national gas company, EGAS, would be the

sole buyer of the gas produced from Aphrodite, while the

partners would be granted an option to purchase specific

quantities of the gas sold to EGAS as LNG.

The signing of the Aphrodite deal follows a recent

breakthrough between Cyprus and the Chevron ( CVX )-led consortium after

months of disagreement over a development plan.

The agreement provides a boost for Egypt, which has

struggled with declining domestic gas production and last year

returned to being a net importer of natural gas.

Egypt recently signed $3 billion worth of LNG supply deals

with Shell and TotalEnergies to cover domestic demand for 2025.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has emphasized the

country's need to ramp up production at its own Zohr gas field,

where operator Eni has resumed drilling after output dropped to

1.9 billion cubic feet per day in early 2024.