Egypt: Karim Badawi, Egypt's new Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, presents his strategy for tackling the country's energy challenges

Karim Badawi, Egypt’s new Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, spoke at a parliamentary hearing on Monday 15 July. During his discussions with parliamentarians, he outlined his strategy for tackling the country’s energy challenges.

Oil and gas development is at the heart of the energy policy, with the main thrust being to increase funding for hydrocarbon exploration. The Minister announced a plan to invest 1.2 billion dollars in drilling a total of 110 oil and gas exploration wells between 2024 and 2025.

‘We will work with foreign partners to establish a timetable and settle outstanding debts in order to encourage them to invest more in increasing oil and gas production as quickly as possible’, said the Minister. He added: ‘We want to put in place incentive mechanisms to improve production programmes and accelerate oil and gas exploration projects, in the interests of both parties’.

Badawi also plans, among other things, to strengthen ‘cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy’, which he says is essential to support the supply of fuel to the country’s power stations.

This move comes against a backdrop in which, despite becoming self-sufficient in gas in 2018, Egypt has been facing a major energy deficit for at least the past two years, marked by recurring power outages and aggravated by a policy geared towards gas exports.

The situation is such that petrochemical companies operating in the country are turning to American shale gas to stay operational, while the country is counting on gas supplies from abroad to support its population’s growing demand for electricity.