Egyptian President Abd El Fattah El Sisi signed the new gas regulatory law, reports Al Ahram.

Law number 196 for 2017, which aims at governing Egypt’s gas market, had been previously passed by the Egyptian Parliament.

Under the new law, the prime minister will issue the law’s executive regulations six months after its official start date. It provides that all the entities active in the gas market should apply to the Gas Market Implementation Agency, established under the provisions of the law, to receive a license to operate in the gas market.

The Egyptian government proposed the law in order to open the gas sector to private investors and permit the private sector to participate in the shipping, distribution, sale, and marketing of natural gas, reports Daily News Egypt.

The new law applies to the Egyptian gas market, but not to concession agreements, and is not in conflict with Law Number 20 from 1976, according to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Akhbar El Yom reports.