UK committed to developing Egyptian oil and gas industry

CAIRO - 19 February 2017: The British Ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, called energy investments in Egypt the driving force behind “what will revive Egypt’s economy in 2017,” according to a statement published last week by the British Embassy in Egypt.

The ambassador’s comments were made as Casson and U.K. Trade Envoy Sir Jeffrey Donaldson attended the first Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS2017) last week, according to the British Embassy. The oil and gas industry event, the largest of its kind in North Africa, was inaugurated by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

The embassy said there was strong British representation in all panel discussions, with over 40 British companies participating in the event. “The size of the Energy Industries Council (EIC) and Scottish Development International (SDI) delegations represents the UK’s commitment to helping Egypt develop its oil and gas industry, and highlights the natural synergy between the U.K. and Egypt,” the statement read.

“The U.K. has over 50 years experience working in the North Sea, one of the world’s most challenging environments, and the skills developed in deep water offshore oil and gas production can be used to support Egypt in becoming an eastern Mediterranean energy superpower.”

The British ambassador spoke to companies participating in the U.K. pavilion, which showcased “the latest British technologies that are being brought to Egypt.” According to the embassy the participating companies expressed a desire to expand their operations to the Egyptian market.

Casson also met with Hossam ElMasry, an Egyptian student at the University of Aberdeen and reservoir engineer at Petrobel. The student held a presentation on low salinity waterflooding, a relatively new method to increase oil recovery, which is being implemented by Petrobel in Egypt.

Egypt has struggled to extract and produce enough petroleum and gas to meet local market needs over the past five years. By December 2012 Egypt had shifted from a net gas exporter to a net gas importer in order to meet the demands of the domestic market, according to Egypt Oil and Gas.

Following years of political and economic instability after the ouster of former presidents Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Mohamed Morsi in 2013, foreign oil companies have had difficulties collecting arrears from the state, Al-Borsa reported.

At the end of 2016, Egypt’s debts to foreign companies amounted to $3.5 billion, Reuters reported last week.

Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla announced last week that the ministry will be unveiling a schedule for repayments to foreign oil companies in the nearby future, the state-run Al-Ahram reported.

The plan set forth by the Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy the Central Bank of Egypt is to completely repay current arrears by the end of June 2019, according to a report published by the International Monetary Fund in January.