CAPMAS: Petrol, natural gas production hikes to 5.8M tons in a year

CAIRO – 25 January 2018: Petrol & natural gas production increased in November 2017 to record 5.83 million tons, compared to 5.45 million tons in November 2016, according to January’s informatic bulletin issued by Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The total domestic consumption of petroleum and natural gas reached 6.349 million tons in November 2017, compared to 6.154 million tons consumed in November 2016, the publication showed.

The volume of crude oil, condensate and gas stoves’ production reached 2.713 million tons last November, compared to 2.716 million tons in November 2016.
Domestic consumption of natural gas rose to 3.472 million tons in November 2017, up from 3.010 million tons in November 2016.

The bulletin showed that the volume of gas stove’s imports decreased to 193,300 tons , down from 218,300 tons in November 2016.While gas stove’s production recorded 136,100 tons.

The volume of diesel production in November declined to 544,000 tons compared to 590,000 tons in November 2016, while the volume of consumption leveled up to 1.188 million tons in November 2017, from 1.183 million tons in November 2016.

Egypt will achieve self-sufficiency of natural gas before the end of 2018, with gas production amounting to six billion cubic feet of gas a day, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla announced last year.

Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry aims to increase its annual production of gasoline, diesel, and butane gas and jet fuel by 11.6 million tons in the next four years, at an investment of $8.3 billion, boosting total production to around 28.5 million tons, up from the current 16.9 million tons.

Egypt targets producing 3.113 million tons of gasoline, 6.603 million tons of diesels, 481,000 tons of butane gas and some 1.438 million tons of jet fuel over the next four years.

Egypt officially started operating the Mediterranean’s largest gas field, Zohr, at the end of 2017, at a capacity of 350 million cubic feet a day.

Egypt will not import liquefied natural gas by the end of 2018, as all phases of the Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea will have been finished, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla noted.

"Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) is planning to issue an international outbidding to explore natural gas and crude oil in the Mediterranean Sea and the Land of the Nile Delta, in H2 of 2017/2018," Chairman of EGas Osama al-Bakly said at the general assembly meeting of EGas on Tuesday.

The Petroleum Ministry-affiliated General Petroleum Company (GPC) plans to drill five discovery wells and 13 development wells, in addition to producing some 64,000 barrels of crude oil, natural gas and condensates a day during fiscal year 2018/19, a statement from the Petroleum Ministry said earlier.

The Ministry of Petroleum-affiliated Petroleum Gas company (Petrogas) targets filling 3.9 million tons of butane gas into some 312 million cylinders in fiscal year 2018/19 to meet domestic needs, the company’s head Adel al-Shuwaikh said.

The national gas network succeeded in adding 450 Kilometers to the network in 15 months and it is expected to add 400 Kilometers more in the next period, Vice President of Egyptian Natural Gas Holding company (EGAS) Mostafa Hilal said.

The price of 92-octane gasoline had increased to LE 5, from LE 3.5 per liter, Diesel and 80-octane, the most commonly used fuel, rose to LE 3.65 per liter from LE 2.35, while cooking gas cylinders’ prices increased to LE 30, from LE 15 per cylinder.