Egypt re-examining “contractual and financial” terms over the West Delta Deep Marine Phase 9b gas project in the Mediterranean, Khaled Abdel Badie, chairman of state-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, told reporters. The drop in oil prices “made everyone all over the world reconsider their calculations,” he said. The expected start to production in 2H 2017 will be rescheduled until an agreement on the gas price is reached.   Our comment: While the government is importing enough natural gas to bridge the country’s energy gap, in our view, falling domestic production is still driving energy shortages. Egypt’s fields are aging, showing an accelerating rate of natural decline and new production is needed each year (c6-8% according to some estimates) just to maintain production. The postponement of this important project, therefore, is likely maintain the tight gas balance for the coming one to two years, in our view.  (Bloomberg, Mohamed Abu Basha)