The Minister of Petroleum, Eng. Sameh Fahmy issued his directions to speed up the delivery of natural gas to households, adding that this year’s plan includes 600 thousand households, after it already supplied gas to about 3.5 million houses in most of the governorates of Egypt.

Fahmy said that the move is an element in the Ministry strategy to expand the natural gas grid to reach more citizens, as a part of the ministry’s plan to evacuate some of the provinces of LPG depots and reduce the quantities of imported LPG.

This came during a press conference held by the Minister of Petroleum to review the activities and operations of the petroleum sector during the past six months and discuss the targeted plans over the next six months.

From his side, Chief Executive of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Abdel Alim Taha said that according to plans, Egypt’s production of crude oil and condensates reach two million barrels per day during the year (2009/2010), pointing to the increased rates of domestic consumption of oil and gas products to 6% annually.

Taha praised the continued flow of national and foreign investments at a record pace -despite the financial crisis during the year (2008/2009)- about $8.9 billion, including $7.5 billion foreign investment in research and exploration, gas and petrochemical projects, in addition to billion investment to drill 520 exploratory wells that support Egypt’s oil reserves.

Moreover, this year will whiteness the drilling of new wells in Qena, Kom Ombo, Aswan, the area south west Egypt on the border with Sudan, and the completion of the development of several fields in the Mediterranean Sea, the Delta and the Western Sahara, assuring the speed of placing them on the production map.