Sources from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources rejected decreasing natural gas price for factories following natural gas self-sufficiency as the output will be used to cover local demands, MENAFN reported.

Factory owners lean towards using the government’s subsidized natural gas, rather than importing expensive gas, in which they will be entitled to pay different fees, according to Latest Africa News.

Meanwhile, four sectors consumed around 40% of Egypt’s natural gas production, which exceeded 5 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), while the biggest part of production goes to electricity generating power plants, said Osama El Bakly, Head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), according to Amwal Al Ghad.

The four main natural gas consuming sectors include the industrial sector, petroleum and derivatives sector, households, and vehicles’ filling sector, El Bakly said, adding that the industrial sector is the top consumer, as it depends heavily on natural gas to operate most of the projects.