Egypt is waiting for creative solutions and legislation in the energy field to overcome the current economic crisis.
Developing countries, including Egypt, consider their traditional energy resources, such as oil and natural gas, to be among the most important sources of development. They help support emerging economies, whether through the direct use of energy sources in production processes and achieving economic value that contribute to the national economy within the state or exporting. Manufacturing oil and gas to obtain final products from crude oil and natural gas and exporting these products is one of the important ways to enhance the economic value of oil and gas and increase the targeted economic return.
There is no doubt that the harsh economic conditions that most countries of the world are going through at the present time will push these countries to review their policies related to conventional energy (oil and gas) in terms of increasing the volume of daily production and enhancing the volume of stockpiles. This will be done by supporting new exploration operations, controlling local consumption of various energy sources and shifting towards the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar energy, water energy, wind energy and green energy of hydrogen.
In Egypt, I see that the energy sector has made several remarkable achievements over the past few years thanks to the state’s policy and the strategy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, which aimed to increase the daily production of crude oil and natural gas and to support exploration operations and studies of underground reservoirs. This will help maintain or increase the volume of proven reserves of oil and gas. The Egyptian state also pushed for the rationalization of energy consumption in order to support energy exports and thus increase Egypt’s national income.
In these difficult times and this dangerous economic turning point, many economists believe that the expansion of energy production and the support of energy reserves may be one of the direct solutions to the current economic predicament. I agree with them in their estimation of the importance of the situation since energy plays a pivotal role in the economic development of any country. However, there must be an integrated strategy to link the energy file to the file of industry, agriculture and the required economic legislation, as well as the popular culture required to deal with energy sources in an optimal manner.
If we wanted to develop a plan for economic reform in Egypt, energy would be at the heart of it. I imagine that the vital role that energy plays in achieving economic growth will not be available unless the relationship between energy and economic development is clearly established so that the energy field does not become just a source of national income from foreign currencies as a result of the direct export of crude oil and natural gas.
A deeper exploration of the energy field is needed, as the energy industry in Egypt has reached new heights in the production of oil and gas derivatives that are included in most modern industries such as the automobile industry, the electronics industry and others. We need to establish large-scale projects to manufacture natural gas instead of exporting it directly to Europe. We also need to direct energy towards modernizing agricultural mechanisms to achieve the highest agricultural productivity that constitutes an added economic value and strategic food security.
Achieving economic development plans through the optimal exploitation of energy sources from oil and gas will only happen through legislative and strategic development that allows the emergence of new legislation for oil and gas energy that supports the increase of research and exploration according to the latest scientific and technological methods and the use of the latest methods of drilling wells to reach the hydrocarbon-bearing layers as well as the application of the best oil and gas production methods and techniques to ensure the highest possible recovery coefficient for oil and gas from underground reservoirs, with regard to the upstream phase of the oil & gas industry.
Regarding the downstream phase of the oil and gas industry, the process of modernization and development still requires more building of strategic partnerships with large economic entities, as well as working to pump new investments, whether local or foreign, to establish the infrastructure for oil and gas manufacturing projects for non-fuel production purposes in a way that supports the national economy in the present time. This provides new and distinguished job opportunities, as well as supports various other economic activities such as agriculture, petrochemical industry, electronics industry and the manufacture of new synthetic materials that enter into the composition of most products.
In summary, it is necessary to set clear energy policies that result in a specific action plan that is implemented according to effective development strategies under a legislative cover that contains a package of new smart legislation. The Egyptian energy sector will be one of the most important pillars of the national economy that will help the country face these difficult economic conditions by controlling the inflation rate, providing liquidity from hard currency and creating new job opportunities in energy sector development projects.
We must also pay close attention to the fact that the Ukrainian-Russian crisis has brought about radical changes and transformations in international energy policies, as well as in energy technologies and applications around the world. For example, some countries, such as Sweden and Germany, tend to expand the use of green hydrogen energy to overcome the problem of the lack of Russian gas supplies and the high global oil prices.
