Egypt’s Supreme Energy Council has tasked the ministries of foreign affairs, petroleum and industry with studying the possible import of natural gas from Iraq and Qatar in order to meet the demands of the local industrial sector.
An official source told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Wednesday that the move indicated the importance given by the council to providing adequate energy supplies–whether from internal or external sources–in order to reach the government’s targeted growth rates.
The source pointed out that the annual industrial growth rate currently stood at 8 percent, whereas the national gas production growth rate only stood at 6 percent. Egypt’s electricity production growth rate, meanwhile, now stands at 10 percent annually, the source added.
According to the same source, the three above-mentioned ministries, together with the Ministry of Electricity, have been tasked with devising an action plan aimed at achieving government growth targets, whether through government agencies under the Petroleum Ministry or through the private sector.
Last April, a ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif asserted that an earlier decision to liberalize electricity prices would not be reconsidered.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
