Egypt’s fuel imports for the first five months of 2017 fell to $497 million from $645 million during the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 23%, reports Amwal Al Ghad.

Imported petroleum products fell in value to $243 million from $276 million, a 12% decrease. Coal imports also fell. During the first five months of 2017, Egypt imported $43.4 million worth of coal, compared to $73 million in 2016, a decline of 40.5%.

Bucking this trend, Egypt’s crude-oil imports rose.

Egypt imported approximately $208 million worth of crude oil during the first five months of 2017, compared to $16 million in 2016, an $192 million (or 1200%) increase, according to statistics from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The government aims to develop the oil and gas sector so that it will become self-sufficient in petroleum products and natural gas by fiscal year 2019/2020 and, ultimately, a regional energy hub.