Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla and Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad has held a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in the New Administrative Capital, in the presence of a number of leaders from the two ministries.

The meeting aimed to discuss the efforts of both ministries in reaching a framework for applying Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology and projects in oil and gas industry. Discussions also tackled cooperation in preparing for the Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES 2024) in connection with related activities within the Show relevant to decarbonization and sustainability.

During the meeting, El Molla confirmed that the existing cooperation and integration of efforts between the Ministries of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the Environment is better than ever and highly effective. He added that as a resul there have been achievements in many areas, such as mining and environmental compatibility for companies in the petroleum sector.

El Molla stated that the ministry aims to continue constructive cooperation between the two ministries in a new field, which is the application of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) technology to achieve the goals of reducing emissions. This comes as the petroleum sector conducted studies for pilot projects recently with global partners and engaged with a number of countries to learn about the practices and legislation governing this field..

Moreover, El Molla highlighted the importance of the Ministry of Environment’s participation in the EGYPES 2024 conference, which was rebranded from being a petroleum conference to an energy conference this year. He added that this represents a rich opportunity to begin cooperation in studying the application of carbon capture, use and storage technology and generate a vision for a common roadmap for implementation.

The two ministers agreed to quickly form a working group of officials and experts from the two ministries to come up with a common vision for what will be presentd during the sessions of the Sustainability in Energy Conference at EGYPES 2024.

El Molla further highlighted the importance of expanding the scope of cooperation with the Ministry of Environment to include the field of improving energy efficiency, which plays an essential role in the oil and gas sector’s strategy to reduce emissions, as distinguished results have been achieved to reduce emissions at work sites by improving the efficiency of energy use.

For her part, Fouad appreciated the fruitful cooperation and continuous coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum in order to promote the preservation of the Egyptian environment and its natural resources, through which many successes have been implemented in the past period, wishing success for the upcoming energy conference, noting that for a safe, low-carbon energy future, the goal is to reduce the burning of greenhouse gases by 65% ​​until 2030 in the petroleum sector.