Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla met with Brad Crabtree, the Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), who is currently visiting Cairo.

The meeting was held to discuss the ongoing cooperation between the two countries within the framework of international initiatives, the Methane Emissions Reduction Charter, zero emissions and the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) initiative for carbon removal.

The discussion session included Osama Mobarez, Secretary General of the EMGF, Ambassador John Desrocher, Acting US Ambassador to Cairo, and Alaa Hagar, Undersecretary of the Technical Office at the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

During the meeting, El Molla expressed the importance of working with the US within the framework of joint international initiatives to achieve more cooperation and provide the necessary solutions and technology to reduce methane.

He also emphasized the collection, capture and storage of carbon in the oil and gas industry, as well as the exchange of experiences with regard to the development of the legislative framework for the collection and storage of carbon.

El Molla stated that the Egyptian oil and gas sector, which has participated in the international zero-emissions initiative since the climate summit in Glasgow, is making continuous progress in reducing carbon emissions in industry operations on a local level.

The minister explained that the success of the sector in developing a roadmap for reducing methane emissions is one of the important results achieved from the carbon removal day at COP27, after mobilizing the full support and efforts in this regard from international and local oil companies.

El Molla also expressed the importance of cooperation in the field of hydrogen as a fuel for the future.

For his part, Crabtree affirmed that his country appreciates Egypt’s efforts to reduce emissions in the oil and gas industry and its keenness to join the Global Methane Charter and the Zero Emissions Initiative.

Crabtree added that there is great and continuous cooperation with the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum as an important regional platform for the gas industry in the region in the field of reducing methane emissions, as the forum has ratified this approach. He added that joint work with the Forum in this field is achieving great progress.

He expressed his country’s interest in providing means of support and cooperation in the field of carbon capture and storage, whether in the technical or legislative aspects.

He also pointed out the importance of hydrogen, which comes at the top of the priorities of the United States’ attention, pointing out that managing global carbon reduction operations and assisting in this is no less important.

Crabtree stated that cooperation in energy and climate projects is an irreplaceable opportunity to build stronger bonds of cooperation and integration between countries.

For his part, Mobarez affirmed that the forum’s initiative to remove carbon supports the policies and procedures of countries in this regard.

He highlighted the need to speed up agreement on policies and procedures to support decarbonization efforts in Egypt and the countries of the region, and to agree on specific work programs that are applicable.

He also emphasized Egypt’s role as one of the most important players in the gas industry in the region and its keenness to develop its resources in an environmentally responsible manner.

Mobarez expressed his aspiration to support cooperation between the EMGF and the US in providing expertise, knowledge and technology that achieve the goals sought by the EMGF in the field of carbon removal.