The Egyptian cabinet announced allocating EGP 4.5 billion to connect 1.35 million residential units to the national gas grid by the end of 2018, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The Egyptian Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, met with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, and ministry leaders, in which they discussed all the angles related to connecting more households to the grid, as per the plans of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Ismail pointed out the necessity for completing this project and removing any obstacles standing in its way.

El Molla reviewed the final implementing regulation version of the gas market regulatory law, especially because the prime minister will soon issue a decree to form the Gas Market Regulatory Authority’s board of directors.

The meeting’s attendees discussed the arrears owned by the oil and gas sector to international oil companies (IOCs) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’s plan to settle the payments in an agreed timeframe.