The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, chaired the first meeting of the new Gas Market Regulatory Authority’s board of directors, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The meeting was attended by the Executive Chairman of the Authority, Karem Mahmoud and members of the board of directors.

The board discussed how the authority will operate over the coming period and its responsibilities, which include the procedures for issuing, modifying and renewing.

The meeting further discussed the procedures for suspending and canceling licenses for gas market activities. This included talking about the rules that licensed parties will need to comply with after fulfilling all the necessary requirements and approvals, as well as preparing the rules for the use of gas networks and facilities.

El Molla said that the meeting also tackled mechanisms to calculate the tariff of the use of networks and facilities, and the ways that the authority will monitor their application and approve the regulations governing transportation, distribution and other important activities in this field. These regulations in addition to the law’s other stipulations will ensure the market remains balanced between all parties.

The minister said that the introduction of the new regulations will enable the authority to exercise its powers in regulating market activities according to the law and the regulatory framework.

He also declared that all entities operating in the gas market are obliged to submit to the system after issuing a list for obtaining a license to practice the activity.