Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla participated in a session about shaping a practical and realistic future for energy held within the activities of the Strategic Conference at the Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES 2024).

The session was attended by Walid Fayyad, Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Osama Mubarez, Secretary General of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), and Alexandra Sdoukou, Greek Deputy Minister of Energy and Environment.

In his speech addressing the session, El Molla stated that the oil and gas sector has achieved success stories in the past years and is planning for more to come with the presence of investments of major international companies in field of exploration and production.

He also referred to the distinguished infrastructure that Egypt possesses, which made it a regional hub for energy trading and helped it to develop its natural gas resources and attracting more international companies working in the oil and gas industry.

El Molla reviewed the efforts of the petroleum sector to implement the strategy of reducing emissions and energy transition.

He also referred to the steps being taken to reform subsidies and implement the automatic pricing mechanism of fuel which led to the rationalization of fuel consumption and helped Egypt to move on with the energy transition strategy.

He also noted that Egypt has focused on increasing the production and use of natural gas as a cleaner fuel in all stages of the value chain and expanding in delivering natural gas to homes instead of butane gas cylinders and focusing on converting cars to use it as fuel.

The Minister affirmed that the energy strategy in Egypt is being amended so that the renewable energy would reach 60 per cent of the sources of energy by year 2030 instead of the 42% target set in 2016.

Regarding regional cooperation in the field of low-carbon energy, El Molla stressed that there are great opportunities for cooperation through ready-made solutions that Egypt possesses for developing energy sources.

In this regard, he referred to Egypt’s great potentials represented in the developed infrastructure, logistics, pipelines, networks, ports, and areas qualified for renewable energy projects and the production of green energy in addition to human resources and geographical location.

In this context, the Minister referred to the significance of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, through which efforts can be integrated to benefit from ready-made solutions and promote regional cooperation.

Walid Fayyad, the Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, reviewed the challenges facing his country and praised Egypt’s stability and the balanced visions it provides. He also agreed with what President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi remarks about the importance of financing and that it is the most important pillar towards achieving productive, environmental, and economic goals.

For his part, Osama Mubarez, Secretary General of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), stressed that the most important goal of the forum is to achieve the right balance between energy security and energy transition, noting that natural gas will play a vital role in the energy transition phase.

Mubarez added that EMGF works on the use of natural gas in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner. He referred to the many initiatives made by the Forum for this end including those focused on removing carbon by applying technology of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

During the same session, the Greek Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Alexandra Sdoukou stated that Greece took the decision to move away from coal in 2019 and that its top priority was to switch to producing electricity from renewable sources.