The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) made four new discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea and Nile Delta during fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017, according to the Head of EGAS, Osama El Bakly, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The company also completed six natural gas development projects, expanding its existing fields and adding new ones. During the past fiscal year, El Bakly noted, EGAS invested more than $2 billion and increased the volume of its natural gas sales to 1.63 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

El Bakly said that the company now uses modern technologies to limit the normal decline of natural gas wells and is conducting a seismic survey in the western Mediterranean. The first phase of this survey will end in FY 2017/2018. Based upon the results of the survey, EGAS will offer an international exploration and production (E&P) tender in the area.

EGAS also finished five new gas pipeline projects. These projects improved the national grid and expanded the country’s gas-to-electricity network to 48,500 kilometers. The company added 580,000 households to the national grid during FY 2016/2017, bringing the total number of households connected to the grid to 8.14 million, El Bakly noted. In addition to the households, EGAS added 1,541 commercial units and 442 bakeries to the network. At the end of the year, there were 17,000 commercial consumers and 2,400 industrial consumers linked to the national grid, according to El Bakly.

The figures were reported during EGAS’s annual general assembly to review its operations for FY 2016/2017.