The government anticipates that 8.2 million households will be connected to the natural gas grid by the end of 2017, an official at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) told Amwal Al Ghad.

In September, Amwal Al Ghad reported that the number of households linked to the grid had risen to 8 million and that EGAS aimed to increase the number to 9 million during 2018.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is looking to connect 600,000 households to the grid during fiscal year (FY) 2017/2018, according to the newspaper.

Expanding Egypt’s natural gas grid will allow the country to decrease its reliance on butane and decrease butane imports, the official indicated.