Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tariq El-Mulla received Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis R. Fannon who is currently visiting Cairo along with his accompanying delegation.
During the meeting, El-Mulla referred to the developments regarding transforming Egypt into a regional center for trading of gas and petroleum, pointing out the regional cooperation and support with neighboring countries to invest gas discoveries in the Mediterranean region for the benefit of all parties, as per the agreement for constructing the gas pipeline from the Cyprus Aphrodite field to Egypt, which was signed recently, as well as, the agreement between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece during the tripartite summit in Crete, held recently, on the establishment of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, which will hold its first meeting in Cairo in January.
El Mulla added that the State is working to strengthen the role of the private sector as one of the factors supporting the implementation of its strategy in building Egypt’s regional hub, which opens great prospects for investments in this area, explaining that the State has issued a law regulating the gas market along with the regulatory body entrusted with the establishment of rules to ensure the participation of the private sector in the trade and circulation of natural gas.
The meeting also reviewed aspects of cooperation between Egypt and the United States in the field of the petroleum and gas industry and ongoing efforts to improve and create an investment climate through the development and modernization of the sector, where El-Mulla pointed out the positive results achieved by Apache in the field of oil and gas exploration in its concession areas in the desert of Western Egypt. El-Mulla acknowledged Exxon Mobil’s successful partnership with the petroleum sector in Egypt through its work over the past 115 years in marketing and distribution of petroleum products, pointing out that the American companies are key partners in the petroleum sector projects, through their input in providing the sector with the latest technologies.
For his part, Fannon stressed his country’s keenness in strengthening cooperation with Egypt and expanding joint projects in the sector to achieve further discoveries in the future and developing gas reserves in region, he praised the positive results achieved by Egypt in the oil and gas industry in recent years and its ability to implement the giant field project of natural gas at a record time.
