Minister of Planning and Economic Development Ahmed Rostom and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi held talks on Sunday to review the performance of the petroleum sector, progress in boosting production and investments, and efforts to improve services provided to citizens.
During the meeting, Rostom described the petroleum sector as a key pillar of the national economy, highlighting its role in meeting domestic energy demand, supporting productive and service sectors, attracting investment, and increasing value added. He praised the sector’s recent performance, noting that petroleum refining recorded growth of 22.4 per cent in the third quarter of FY2025/2026 and 8.7 per cent over the full fiscal year.
The minister also commended efforts to strengthen investment in the sector and the successful settlement of dues owed to foreign partners, which helped restore investor confidence and support increased spending on exploration and field development.
For his part, Badawi said the sector has returned to a positive growth trajectory, with crude oil production rising again, refining activity expanding, and the decline in natural gas production being contained ahead of a return to growth. He attributed the improvement to renewed investment flows following the settlement of partner dues.
The minister stressed that increasing domestic oil and gas production remains a top priority to meet market demand and reduce imports.
Badawi added that co-ordination with the Ministry of Electricity aims to raise the contribution of renewable energy to power generation, reducing gas consumption and import costs. He also pointed to projects linking Cypriot gas fields to Egyptian infrastructure as a step that would strengthen Egypt’s position as a regional energy hub and secure additional gas supplies for the local market.
