A press release from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Renewable Energy to Egypt Oil&Gas stated that the minister, Tarek El Molla, witnessed the agreement between Bawabet Al Kuwait Holding Company and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co (EGAS), the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO), Petroleum Trading Service Co (Petrotrade), as well as Alexandria Fertilizer Company (AlexFert)  to settle the dispute and waiver the arbitration suit that was presented to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Cairo stressed the importance of settling disputes with the Kuwaiti investor to ensure the continuity of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The issue steams from 2011, when Bawabet Al Kuwait asked for $1.2b compensation as it claimed that the Egyptian government unilaterally backed out of a 15-year contract to supply the company’s subsidiary, AlexFert, with gas at a price of $3/mcf. Yet, Egypt reached a settlement deal with the company in early August 2016, according to Ahram.