Investments in Mediterranean gas fields exceed $27 bln: Minister

Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said that 2018 witnessed the completion of new stages to increase the production of natural gas from four major fields in the Mediterranean Sea.

Molla clarified that these fields were put on the production map with investment of more than $27 billion and production rates of 6.5 billion cubic feet per day expected upon the completion of all stages.

The minister noted that what has been achieved is the result of the completion and development of natural gas projects.

Molla added during his speech at the 22nd International Petroleum Conference, held in Cairo, that Egypt is implementing an ambitious program of reform supported by a conscious and ambitious political will and strong popular support.

He pointed out that the security, political, legislative and economic stability of the country in addition to the solutions provided by the government to strengthen the investment climate greatly impacted the Egyptian oil industry to move towards new horizons.

The minister further referred to the strategy of the new Ministry of Petroleum which coincides with the vision of Egypt 2030 that is headed by the achievement of sustainable development of the natural wealth of Egypt.

“We have started implementing an ambitious program to develop and modernize the petroleum sector and raise its efficiency, in cooperation with the world’s leading expert houses, to develop and change the various activities in order to increase its contribution to the comprehensive development in Egypt,” Molla said.

He added that as a result the petroleum sector has witnessed unprecedented achievements, and ended the era of gas import and started fulfilling commitments for export contracts.

An official source at the Petroleum Authority said Monday that the volume of joint foreign investments that were pumped during 2018 in the petroleum sector recorded $5.7 billion.