Egypt eyes lower arrears owed to foreign oil firms to $2.5bn this year

Egypt paid foreign oil companies US$600 million in arrears in August and still owes them US$2.9 billion, the petroleum minister Sherif Ismail told Reuters Wednesday.

Minister Ismail also said Egypt aims to lower the amount of arrears it owes foreign oil companies to US$2.5 billion by the end of 2015.