Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, confirmed that the highest priority of the petroleum sector action plan during the current stage is to continue to secure the needs of citizens for petroleum products and gas to meet daily life needs, directing his greetings and appreciation to the members of the House of Representatives for the positive, constructive and continuous cooperation with the Ministry with the aim of achieving the aspirations of citizens. And ensuring decent livelihoods for them.
At the beginning of the meeting, Badawi gave a presentation on the basic axes of the Ministry’s strategy and work plan during the current phase and the priorities of the next phase, which includes 6 main axes of work, namely ways to stimulate increased production and intensify research and exploration operations in cooperation with the sector’s partners from international companies, and maximizing the benefit and achieving added value from Petroleum wealth and infrastructure, achieving a major shift in the mining sector’s contributions to the gross domestic product, and enhancing regional cooperation by exploiting Egypt’s distinctive geographical location and the advanced infrastructure it possesses, In addition to cooperative work with the Ministry of Electricity to increase the contribution of new and renewable energies to the energy mix with the aim of providing petroleum wealth for value-added industries, as well as promoting a culture of energy efficiency, occupational safety and health, and reducing emissions because of their important and positive impact on individuals, assets and resources, sending a message of reassurance to the attendees that Domestic oil and gas production will increase again during the coming period.
The Minister stressed that international oil and gas companies have shown great commitment to their projects in Egypt despite the challenges, as there are 57 international companies in Egypt, which confirms that the field of oil and gas in Egypt is a promising field and enjoys great investment opportunities, pointing out that work is underway to stimulate the entry and participation of Egyptian investors from Various fields and industries for investment in the field of oil and gas.
The meeting witnessed fruitful discussions between party members and the minister, who confirmed that the project to deliver natural gas to homes receives priority in implementation because it directly affects the lives of citizens, indicating that work is underway clearly and transparently to clarify the delivery plan to the representatives in their constituency areas. He also pointed out that there is a committee Government meetings to discuss industry problems present all the problems of various industries to the state sectors. Therefore, incentive packages can be put forward for all industries with the aim of encouraging industry.
The meeting witnessed a proposal from Engineer Osama Kamal, the former Minister of Petroleum, about the possibility of installments for converting cars to operate on compressed natural gas. Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum, welcomed the proposal and that work should be done on integration between the ministry, the party and the various concerned authorities to activate implementation mechanisms and the possibility of extending the proposal to deliver gas to homes with certain controls.
The Minister also pointed out the Ministry’s keenness to work to deliver support to those who deserve it, and to allow Egyptian investors to work in the sector, noting that the petroleum sector possesses a strategic stock of diesel for use in the event of any gas shortage in generating electricity, and that the success of diversifying the energy mix will reduce the consumption of this fuel. He pointed out that cooperation is ongoing with the Ministry of Petroleum and several cooperation bodies in various fields of training, including technical education.
Engineer Yass Mohamed, head of the Holding Company for Gases, explained that the current challenge witnessed by the project to deliver gas to homes is the increase in the cost of delivery because a large part of the delivery components and raw materials have special specifications and are imported from abroad, as the cost of delivery to the customer at the present time amounts to 8,500 pounds, of which the Ministry of Petroleum bears a portion and The customer pays only 5 thousand pounds for delivery. Several banks have been contracted to collect through them, stressing that delivery is an important matter that we aim to work on because it saves money on the stove import bill.
With regard to industry incentives, all minimum debts have already been dropped and 65% of violation fines have been exempted. Debts have also been rescheduled several times, including rescheduling the ceramic sector’s debts for a period of 10 years. Scheduling processes are still being carried out for defaulters, and no measures are being taken against checks. Returned from banks to ensure the continuation of their activity, he pointed out that the cost of delivering gas to factories is paid in installments over long periods.
For his part, Engineer Salah Abdel Karim, Chairman of the Petroleum Authority, confirmed that it is planned to complete the implementation of the Anopec project on the specified date, and pointed out that the project will produce high-quality Euro-5 products that match European specifications and are compatible with the environment, pointing out that work is underway to implement the first phase of the project. Modernizing the Assiut plant. He also pointed out that, unlike Anopec and the Assiut plant, infrastructure is being implemented in the Ras Shuqair area in the Red Sea, which includes storage warehouses and container receiving stations to complete the system.
Engineer Moataz Atef, Undersecretary of the Ministry for the Technical Office and the Office of the Minister and Official Spokesman, indicated that the social responsibility projects in the various governorates witnessed the implementation of several projects in many fields, noting that there is a school in Port Said Governorate for technical training in the field of mining, and the first batch will be graduated at the end of this month. He extended an invitation to the representatives to attend the trainees’ graduation ceremony.
