Egypt's Natural Gas Holding Co. (Egas) could possibly award license to more than one of the five companies offering bids in importing liquefied natural gas within two weeks as the natural gas users in the country prepare to purchase the fuel for the first time.

State-controlled company's chairman, Sherif Soussa, said in a telephone interview that the company would likely aware the license to the successful bidding companies, allowing Egyptian industrial consumers to import natural gas in a maximum of 1 billion cubic feet daily once the second half of 2013 enters.

Previously, the country was known to be one of the countries that export natural gas.