The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum plans to settle total arrears for international oil companies (IOCs), which have reached $1.2 billion, by the end of 2019, official sources at the ministry told Amwal Al Ghad.

The Egyptian oil and gas sector pays around $1 billion to $1.5 billion in exchange for IOCs’ oil and gas production shares in order to prevent rebuilding up debts and to cover local market hydrocarbon demands, the sources pointed out.

IOCs’ arrears had recorded $6.3 billion before 2014, and has been decreasing as the sector repays parts of it until it reached current $1.2 billion.

The sources confirmed that rescheduling arrears payment has encouraged IOCs to re-pump the investments in the Egyptian sector and may lead to attract $10 billion foreign investments in the oil and gas sector during 2019.