Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, confirmed that the wheel of exploration and production of oil and gas has begun to turn in recent months at a faster pace and to benefit from the incentive packages provided by the petroleum sector for investment in this field, pointing to the extensive efforts for cooperation between the petroleum sector and international and Egyptian investment partners to build on promising opportunities and intensify… Activities in an effort to increase production rates and reserves of petroleum wealth.
This came in Engineer Karim Badawi’s speech during the celebration of the forty-ninth National Day of Egyptian Petroleum, which falls on the seventeenth of November every year on the occasion of the anniversary of Egypt’s recovery of its oil fields in Sinai in 1975, which was held among workers in the Petroleum Geographical Zone in Alexandria at the Alexandria Petroleum Company’s work site. In the presence of Engineer Mohamed Shimi, Minister of Public Business Sector, Minister Mohamed Gibran, Minister of Labor, Lieutenant General Ahmed Khaled Hassan Said, Governor of Alexandria, and a number of former Egyptian oil ministers, Engineer Sameh Fahmy, Engineer Abdullah Ghorab, Engineer Osama Kamal, Engineer Hani Dahi, former Minister of Transport, Mohamed Saafan, former Minister of Labor, and leaders of the petroleum sector. The head of the Petroleum Workers Union, the accountant Abbas Saber, the heads of the union committees in the sector’s companies, and a number of representatives of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Alexandria Governorate.
The Minister noted that international companies have intensified their activities during the recent period in their areas of operation, reviewing the latest activities, including the start of drilling new wells for gas exploration in the western Mediterranean through the international company Chevron in the Arab region, as well as the plan of the international company Exxon Mobil to start drilling next month, and the company is also implementing British Petroleum International has launched an ambitious drilling program in addition to starting an exploratory seismic survey in the western Mediterranean to identify existing opportunities.
The Minister thanked the national businessmen and investors who responded to the Ministry’s initiative at the end of last September to encourage and attract national capital to work in the oil and gas research and exploration sector.
The Minister indicated that these efforts come in accordance with the work strategy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources that is being implemented, reviewing its basic axes.
The Minister explained that providing citizens’ needs for petroleum products and gas comes at the forefront of the axes and represents the Ministry’s first priority by working in all ways to maximize exploration and production efforts.
He pointed out the importance of utilizing the infrastructure capabilities of the petroleum refining and petrochemical sector that have been built over decades at this important stage and operating this infrastructure with the highest production capacity in order to achieve added value and greater returns to the Egyptian economy.
The Minister stressed that the axis of developing Egypt’s mineral wealth receives great attention to raise its contribution to the national product from 1% currently to between 5-6%, stressing the importance of investing all expertise and energies to contribute to the development of this sector and bring about a positive transformation in it.
Badawi added that the fourth axis is to restructure the proportion of the energy mix in Egypt in an optimal way, in cooperation as one team with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, with the aim of increasing the representation of renewable energy, green energy, and hydrogen and their important role in reducing emissions, thus providing the opportunity to exploit the increase in natural gas production in industries. Value added, such as the petrochemical industry, to meet market needs and export the surplus.
As for the fifth axis, which comes at the top of the Ministry’s priorities, it concerns attention to occupational health and safety, the environment, and sustainability, and attention to the human element, which is the most important wealth possessed by the sector. He thanked all current and former workers for their efforts in achievements and establishing projects and infrastructure for the sector over the decades, and the Minister directed the expansion of Building human capabilities for workers through specialized training programs for technicians to provide them with capabilities and skills, pointing out that the areas of health, environment, and sustainability are among the most important key components for attracting more investments in the petroleum sector, in addition to the importance of expanding projects to improve energy efficiency and rationalize consumption to provide energy resources for the growth and prosperity of the economy. National.
Badawi added that the sixth axis is represented in complementary work, whether with government agencies and ministries under the leadership of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and His Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, or cooperation with the House of Representatives and the Senate to provide an attractive legislative environment for investments, or integration and cooperation with international and Egyptian partners, and working on Increasing regional cooperation and benefiting from Egypt’s strategic location and its role as a regional energy center by taking advantage of the infrastructure it possesses of gas liquefaction factories and refineries.
The Minister pointed out that there are 57 foreign production companies operating in Egypt, thanking these companies for their efforts over the past years despite the challenges, and the presence of this number of investors, if anything, indicates that Egypt enjoys promising investment opportunities.
At the end of his speech, Engineer Karim Badawy explained that he was keen this year to celebrate Petroleum Day together, after a hiatus that lasted for a number of years, expressing his respect and deep appreciation for the efforts made by the people of this sector in various fields of production, and their success over the past years in writing lines. Illuminated by the great projects and achievements that have been achieved as a result of your sincere and diligent work, stressing the importance of the great role of workers in advancing the process of construction and development to contribute to the advancement of our beloved homeland, as they are the homeland’s true wealth, the axis of development, and the starting point towards a better future by strengthening the march of our national economy for our beloved Egypt and our great people.
Accountant Abbas Saber, head of the General Union of Petroleum Workers, gave a speech in which he stressed the importance of the role of workers in the current efforts of the petroleum sector under the leadership of Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, to achieve a greater breakthrough in attracting investments and increasing production from petroleum resources in a way that supports the national economy and achieves the state’s development plans. .
After that, Engineer Karim Badawy, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, honored the former Ministers of Petroleum, Engineer Sameh Fahmy, Engineer Abdullah Ghorab, Engineer Osama Kamal, and Engineer Tariq Al-Mulla. He also presented the sector shield to Engineer Mohamed Shimi, Minister of Public Business Sector, Mr. Mohamed Gibran, Minister of Labor, and Lieutenant General Ahmed Khaled Saeed. The Governor of Alexandria, Engineer Hani Dahi, the former Minister of Transport, and Mohamed Saafan, the former Minister of Labor.
The Minister also honored Engineer Gamal Fathi, the Minister’s Advisor for Occupational Safety and Health, for his distinguished career in these fields, honoring a number of professionally distinguished models in the sector’s companies and former union leaders, and honoring the names of the late Amina Al-Shawadfi and Muhammad Ahmed Al-Nashar.
