Egypt’s petroleum sector aims to expand the delivery of gas to 3.5m housing units by the end of 2019, a source at the Ministry of Petroleum told Egypt Oil & Gas, adding that this move would reduce Egypt’s annual imports of butane gas.

In an exclusive statement to Egypt Oil & Gas, the source said that the government plan was in place and included the delivery of natural gas to 1m housing units in 2016, 60% of which are in slum areas and the other 40% in the governorates of Lower Egypt and Cairo. The governorates of Upper Egypt account for 16.5% of the total housing units included in the plan. He also noted that delivering natural gas to homes will save 100,000 tons of butane gas per year.

Egypt currently imports 8,000 tons of butane gas per day worth $3.5m. Furthermore, gas delivery to homes will thus help the state save foreign currency reserves, at the time when the value of the US dollar approaches EGP 10 on the black market.