The Ministry of Petroleum decided to cut the output of Egypt’s natural gas to 6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) from 7 bcf/d in the current period, due to lower consumption rates in the domestic market and exports, according to a ministerial source reporting to Al Borsa newspaper.

The unnamed source clarified that Egypt’s surplus in natural gas output reached nearly 1 bcf/d due to a decline in power stations’ consumption to around 3.7 bcf/d, compared to 4.5 bcf/d during last year’s summer months.

Egypt targets to boost its production from natural gas to stand at 7.5 bcf/d by 2019/2020, the source added.

The source also pointed out that domestic consumption of natural gas will gradually increase to 7 bcf/d by the coming fiscal year, reaching 9 bcf/d by 2020/2021, versus 6.2 bcf/d in the current year.

It is noteworthy that Egypt’s electricity sector consumes 61% of the total natural gas output, while the other sectors consume only 39%.