CAIRO – Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla stressed that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis posed challenges for many world economies, including that of Egypt, and affected vital economic sectors, especially gas and petroleum markets.
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia pushed up oil and gas prices that hit a record as compared with their prices before the outbreak of the conflict, Molla said during a meeting with officials from the Petroleum Authority, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. and the Egyptian Petrochemicals holding Company.
The meeting was dedicated to mulling the repercussions of the crisis on the Egyptian oil and gas industry and proposed scenarios to mitigate its negative impact.
A statement by the ministry on Sunday said the new developments in the world gas and petroleum markets require working out new plans of action that aim, at the first place, at securing the needs of local markets from gas and petroleum products through stepping up excavation works.
Molla stressed that achieving self sufficiency in natural gas and turning Egypt from importer to exporter has strongly boosted the national economy, especially with the increase of liquified natural gas prices.
He underlined the importance of making the best use of available opportunities to increase Egypt’s natural gas production and optimizing petroleum ports as well as liquification stations in Idco and Damietta.
