EGPC pays $6.2 billion in arrears to foreign oil firms

CAIRO – 21 September 2017: The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) paid $6.2 billion to foreign companies in arrears during the fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017, which in turn prompted companies to accelerate their activities in the oil and gas fields, EGPC Chairman Abed Ezz el-Regal said Thursday.

He added that EGPC paid a total amount of $19.3 billion and LE 38 billion (in local currency) to the companies, during the same period, to buy oil and repay loans.

Foreign oil firms have invested $5 billion in oil and gas exploration activities in FY 2016/2017, and this has contributed in achieving production targets and boosting oil and gas reserves, Ezz el-Regal said.

The actual value spent on petroleum subsidies in FY 2016/2017 amounted to LE 122.4 billion, Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said in a Thursday statement.

Molla explained that the government has purchased petroleum products, worth LE 204.3 billion ($11.6 billion), to sell them in the domestic market for LE 81.9 billion at subsidized prices.

Egypt has consumed 78 million tons of petroleum products and natural gas in the previous fiscal year, while the petroleum sector has refined 25 million tons of crude oil and condensates in Egyptian refineries.