Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla highlighted during a webinar organized by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA)  how economic reform along with the support of President AbdelFatah El Sisi helped Egypt to regain its position on the international investments map, according to a press release.

The event was virtually held in the honor of the Petroleum Minister who touched on the sector’s achievements in the last period, including the recent boost in investments, and the ministry’s efforts towards decarbonization activities. El Molla also indicated that Egypt was recognized by global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which announced Egypt as the second-largest economy in the Arab region in 2020.

Other international institutions have described Egypt as a favorite global destination for investments, especially in the petroleum sector. The minister pointed out that the total investments injected into the oil and gas sector during the period from fiscal year (FY) 2014/15 to FY 2019/20 amounted to about $74 billion.

“Investments over the last six years were about $74 billion. 48 billion had been executed already and in operations, $17 billion are projects under development and would be completed within the coming two years, while $9 billion are projects in the pipeline and ready for final approvals.” the minister stated.

Additionally, the ministry’s Modernization Project has succeeded in attracting new major international oil companies (IOCs) such as Chevron and ExxonMobil to the Egyptian market. The minister added that the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) has garnered the interest of IOCs and international institutions, considering Cairo is the starting point for their projects in the entire region.

El Molla remarked that Egypt has signed 98 exploration and production (E&P) agreements with several IOCs and implemented four major refining projects with investments amounting to $4.6 billion to get to high-quality products. This all has led to a decrease in the imported petroleum products by 35%.

When it comes to natural gas, the minister highlighted that Egypt’s self-sufficiency increased natural gas consumption in Egypt’s energy mix to reach 62% during the FY 2019/20 against 48% during the FY 2014/15. He added that the petroleum sector aims to increase natural gas consumption by 65% during FY 2022/23. The natural gas delivery project was shown to be a great success by connecting six million households in recent years, at a rate of 1.2 million households annually.

According to the minister, the car conversion project is also going strong as the sector is currently working on increasing the number of cars running on compressed natural gas (CNG), natural gas fuel stations, and dual-fuel vehicle conversion centers. So far, the total number of converted cars has reached 368,000 and the number of natural gas fuel stations recorded 331 stations. The ministry plans to increase the number of converted cars to 400,000 by converting 150,000 cars and replacing 250,000 cars over the next three years.

As for the mining sector, the minister denoted that through reforms, the mining sector would become an important pillar of Egypt’s economy. He pointed out that the recent global bid round resulted in the selection of 11 international and local companies to explore for gold in 82 blocks in the Eastern Desert, with a minimum investment of $60 million.

The webinar was sponsored by BP, Shell, and TAQA Arabia, and was moderated by Egypt Oil & Gas (EOG) Managing Director and Owner, Mohamed Fouad.