Features / Overview
EGAS’ NEW GAS REGULATORY AFFAIRS DIVISION
Eng. Amira El-Mazni has been named the new Vice Chairman for Gas Regulatory Affairs, but she has yet to be given her own office. In fact, her building doesn’t actually currently exist. Her temporary office is still on the fifth floor inside the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) building, as no laws have been formally been issued for the new group’s mandate. More troubling still, the laws are not expected to even be passed for at least six months, as the Ministry of Petroleum is still studying the draft law that would establish the Gas Regulatory Affairs (GRA) authority.
UNLOCKING EGYPT’S ENERGY POTENTIAL
The industry often gets a glimpse of how the state views the it, its challenges and its future; however, rarely does the government present a completely unified outlook of how the industry is viewed and how it plans to deal with challenges in the future. During an event organized by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) Sherif Ismail, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources presented the state’s view of the current challenges the industry faces, as well as the steps necessary to unlock Egypt’s energy potential.
REPAVING THE WAY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH: INVESTMENT CLIMATE IN EGYPT
In Egypt’s Economic Development Conference, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave a strong message to the international community: Egypt is back on track, stable and ready to receive investors. After four years of political turmoil, the government is making a vehement effort to redeem Egypt’s image on the international stage by introducing energy and fiscal reforms. In recent months, the president has toured European countries, finalizing investment deals and rallied billions in aid from Gulf States. As the country stabilizes and the economy recuperates, the government is moving to create a safe and attractive investment climate for private and foreign investors.
Optimizing Services
“Optimization is improving something,” explained Miguel Muñoz, a Production Engineer at Apache Egypt, at the start of our interview. The term optimization in its most basic form is, “an act, process, or methodology of making something as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible, whether it is mathematics, computer science, economics, management science, business development, or the intricate fabric of our lives.” While “you can optimize your life by sleeping a little bit more,” said Muñoz, in the oil and gas industry “optimization is an integral process that occurs in different technical aspects of all the disciplines and departments within the [oil] company,” he continued.
The Energy Crisis in Egypt and the Repercussions of Oil Prices
Oil is found mostly in sedimentary rocks (whether sand, shale, clay, or limestone) deposited by rivers and seas in prehistoric times. Besides water, they also carry fine organisms, plants, and organic matter which when buried, eventually becomes petroleum (oil or gas) under specific conditions of temperature and pressure. Oil does occasionally exist in non-sedimentary rocks but this is rare, which is why exploration tends to focus on sedimentary areas.
