Egypt’s Oil Ministry has published a report stating that country’s average production of natural gas declined to 3.8bcf/d in 2016, down from 4.4bcf/d in 2015, reported Daily News Egypt. The report further disclosed that gas fields’ average productivity in 2016 significantly decreased due to delays in plans to link gas fields to production sites managed by international companies.

According to the report, the Khalda Petroleum Company – a Joint Venture (JV) company between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Apache Corporation – produced an average 850mcf/d of gas, compared to 851mcf/d in 2015.

The Italian energy company Eni, operating in Egypt through its subsidiary Petrobel, produced an average of 800mcf/d of gas, down from 978mcf/d last year.

Royal Dutch Shell subsidiaries’ production in the Borollos and Rashid fields declined to be about 650mcf/d from the previous figure of about 841mcf/d in the previous year.

The Pharaonic Petroleum Company (PhPC) in conjunction with the British Petroleum (BP) produced an average of 325mcf/d of gas, a decline from 482mcf/d in 2015.

The report pointed out that Egyptian wells are declining in productivity at a rate of 110mcf of gas per month, and suggested that energy companies begin planning to dig developing wells to offset the drop.

Egypt’s domestic demand for natural gas is estimated at 5.3bcf/d. It is divided into nearly 3bcf/d for electricity,1.2bcf/d for cars and homes, and 1.1bcf/d for the industrial sector.