Cairo – Mubasher: The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources issued a report outlining the main accomplishments of the sector since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took office in mid-2014.
The petroleum sector achieved a surplus in the balance of trade for the first time in years, registering EGP 9.9 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2018/2019.
During the first half (H1) of FY20/21, the petroleum sector recorded a trade surplus of EGP 2.3 billion.
Moreover, the gas output capacity increased to more than 7 billion cubic feet per day as the gas sector turned from a negative growth of 11% to a positive growth of 25% in FY18/19, making the country self-sufficient in natural gas in September 2018.
The petroleum and gas sector contributed about 27% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in FY18/19 and 24% in FY19/20 despite the repercussions of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The petroleum refining sector grew by 25% in FY19/20 with expectations to increase in the coming period with the completion of new refining projects with investments of $7 billion (EGP 108 billion).
The country also managed to reduce the arrears owed to foreign partners in the petroleum sector by 86% to $850 million in FY19/20 from $6.3 billion in 2011.
A total of 6.1 million households were connected to the natural gas network, representing 49% of the total number of households connected to the network since 1981, amounting to 12.4 million.
Moreover, nine international bids were launched for oil and gas exploration, including the first oil and gas exploration bid in the Red Sea.
A total of 98 oil and gas exploration agreements were signed from July 2014 until April 2021 with minimum investments of $16.15 billion and signature grants of $1.14 billion for the drilling of 379 wells.
In addition, 94 oil development contracts were signed with development grants of $45.5 million.
During the last seven years, the petroleum production reached 517 million tonnes, including 218 tonnes of crude oil and condensates, 290 million tonnes of natural gas, and 9 million tonnes of butane.
