Egypt’s rising oil import bill could cancel out gains from higher gas export revenues this year, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, told CNBC Arabia.
During Q2 of fiscal year (FY) 2021/22 Egypt achieved over $2.9 billion positive trade surplus, the minister pointed out.
On energy efficiency, El Molla stated that Egypt’s significance as a regional energy hub has been represented, especially in terms of natural gas. This was not achieved by accident, but based on work exerted over the past years, and according to the government’s vision. This was built on maximizing and speeding up production to reach natural gas self-sufficiency, developing and expanding infrastructure, and enhancing all procedures, in addition to the connection with global entities like the European Union (EU), the US, and the countries of the region. This led to the establishment of the East-Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF).
Our gas production is covering local demands, and a part is exported, varying between 10% to 15% of local production, and it is changeable based on the season, in Summer local consumption increases due to high temperature, and in Winter exports increase, El Molla noted.