The total amount of dues that are owed by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum to British Gas (BG) and Shell, in return for their shares in the gas produced at El-Borollos and Rasheed fields, have increased to $1.1b, from $1b in April 2016, reported Daily News Egypt.

Mena Fn wrote that the Ministry of Petroleum have previously decided to pay $400m of its dues to BG in June 2016, but have failed to do so, possibly because the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) did not provide the money due to its struggles with the foreign currency fluctuations.

The money owed by the Oil Ministry to BG represents more than 30% of the total government debt to foreign oil companies operating within Egypt’s oil and gas industry.

Amwal Al Ghad added that Shell will not resume its work in its concession area in stage 9B, located in the deep Mediterranean water, nor export gas from its Edco liquefaction factory, until it receives part of its financial dues. In March 2016, Shell halted its work in the 9B stage and moved Saiem drillship from the site after finishing the 9A operations and linking the site’s production to the national gas grid.