Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla has held talks with Zubin Bamji, Program Manager for the World Bank’s (WB) Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), in which he expressed Egypt’s aspiration to continue its fruitful and ongoing cooperation with the WB as a major strategic partner.

Taking place in the presence of Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) Secretary General Osama Mobarez at ADIPEC 2023, El Molla also praised the WB’s support for the ministry’s projects, the most important of which is the project to deliver natural gas to homes, the first phase of which succeeded in delivering gas to 2.5 million housing units. The minister also highlighted the importance of starting the implementation of the second phase of the project, which aims to deliver gas to about 5 million housing units.

Moreover, the meeting pointed out the bank’s support for the project to develop and modernize the petroleum sector, the areas of carbon reduction and energy efficiency improvement, and the initiative to reduce associated flame gas emissions by 2030 and to finance the preparation of studies to develop carbon capture and storage centers (CCS) in Egypt.

Additionally, it reviewed cooperation in the field of mining and supported the Ministry in confronting the challenges of artisanal mining and developing a framework for it in accordance with International Labor Organization standards.,

The discussions touched on the new WB program to reduce methane emissions and its importance, and the framework notes for methane emissions projects that were prepared by the ministry’s work team and shared with representatives of the WB.

This is to support financing the implementation of these projects and the existing discussions on World Bank support for establishing a sustainable green financing mechanism to support the implementation of carbon reduction projects in the oil and gas sector in a sustainable manner.

The meeting also reviewed the aspects of cooperation between the EMGF and the WB as an observer of the forum, and the bank’s adoption of the forum’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions from the natural gas value chain and financing the study of preparing the framework for controls and procedures related to reducing emissions and the structure of carbon footprint mechanisms.