By Oleg Vukmanovic and Sarah McFarlane
MILAN/LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - BP's diversion of a tankerof liquefied natural gas (LNG) away from Egypt due to paymentissues is the first sign that the country's currency crisiscould be jeopardising its energy supplies, traders said.
Earlier this month the tanker British Sapphire was divertedto Brazil rather than discharging in Egypt, with the delivery ofthe LNG cargo for Egypt delayed up until October, traders said.
BP declined to comment. Egypt's state-owned EGAS was not available to comment.
Egypt has been struggling to pay for U.S. dollar-priced oilproducts and LNG due to an acute foreign currency crisis,worsened by the Russian airliner disaster in October, which hittourism revenue.
Last year Egypt became a major market for LNG shippers suchas BP and Europe's elite commodity merchants after the startupof two import terminals, but a payment freeze for deliveriesuntil March has resulted in a $400-$500 million bill so far,trade sources say.
It is an unwelcome addition to Egypt's already growingarrears to foreign oil companies involved in producing oil andgas in the country, up at $3 billion at the end of December.
In BP's case this has begun to translate into deliveriesbeing pushed back nine months into the future in the latestcase, a source said, raising the prospect of patchy supplies toEgypt's energy-intensive industries and power plants.
BP's British Sapphire arrived outside the country's AinSokhna import terminal on Dec. 24 and proceeded to spend thenext fortnight circling offshore before on Jan. 7 the vessel'sdestination changed.
It is currently en route to Brazil, shipping data shows.
"The British Sapphire was redirected because (BP's) previouscargo was not paid for," a trader said.
Egypt's LNG suppliers include Shell, Gas Natural, Trafigura,Vitol, EDF Trading, PetroChina and Noble.
Gas shipments should continue uninterrupted from tradehouses after Egypt promised to repay LNG debts by dipping intomulti-billion dollar cash infusions by the World Bank, China andother institutions expected in coming months, the sources said.
But uncertainty remains over what proportion of Chinese,World Bank and other aid will go towards the petroleum sector.
Forthcoming Saudi oil aid should also free Egypt's hand todedicate its replenished U.S. dollar reserves to repaying gasdebts since purchases of oil on the open market will beminimized, one LNG trader said.
In a bid to ride out its cash crunch, last month Egyptproposed to extend payment terms for LNG to 90 days after thedate of unloading, from 15 days previously. (Additional reporting by Eric Knecht in Cairo, editing by DavidEvans)