The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)’s Head, Abed Ezz El Regal, stated during the meeting at the American Chamber of Commerce that Egyptian arrears to international oil companies (IOCs) decreased from $3.6b to $3.4b by end of April 2017.

Ezz El Regal told Egypt Oil&Gas that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is continuing in paying back IOCs in order to attract $10b investments in 2018. The Ministry further aims to boost investments to $32b within 3 years after applying the new investment law, which will facilitate Egyptian oil and gas investment process.

Ezz El Regal pointed out that, because the Ministry is paying its arrears to IOCs, the country was able to work on Zohr field, which is the largest gas field in the Mediterranean. Zohr field has 30tcf of gas reserves.

EGPC’s Head did not announce the amounts that will be paid back for IOCs in 2017 as he said it is beneficial until it is prepared by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).