(MENAFN) On Thursday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the country’s ambitious plan to restore its oil and gas production to normal levels by 2025 by working with international partners. Egypt is looking to cement its position as a regional liquefied natural gas hub, capitalising on recent major discoveries such as the giant Zohr gas field, which is estimated to contain around 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. But this ambition is hampered by a shortage of foreign currency that has led to significant arrears with international companies.

To resolve these financial problems, the government has launched a plan to pay off 20 percent of these arrears, with the intention of paying off the rest according to a specific schedule. This financial burden has also led Egypt to implement load shedding during the summer to meet demand on the electricity grid, as the country needs to import about $1.18 billion worth of natural gas and diesel to end the ongoing blackouts. Egypt generates most of its electricity from natural gas, and recent figures from the Ministry of Petroleum show that gas production has reached 5.7 billion cubic feet per day. In addition, in July, the ministry signed agreements with two international companies to invest $340 million in increasing oil and gas production in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

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