Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said today that Cairo has contracted for all the necessary fuel shipments to end the summer power outages.
Egypt is currently suffering from a shortage of electricity at a time when a heat wave has increased demand for cooling methods, and Egypt needs to import natural gas and fuel oil (mazut) worth about $1.18 billion to eliminate the power outage crisis.
finance resource
Madbouly said in a press conference, “We want this crisis to end forever before this year.”
He added, “We have secured the financial resources that were required, as we said, about $1.2 billion, and this is not a small number.”
As he said during a cabinet meeting today, We have previously provided an exceptional solution for the current summer months, by pledging to provide about $1.2 billion to finance the purchase of petroleum materials needed to operate power stations, and we promised to provide the final solution by the end of the year, which is necessary to take the measures that ensure its implementation.”
Madbouly explained that the contracts will be concluded during the months of July and August, noting that some of these shipments have already arrived.
For his part, the new Minister of Petroleum, Karim Badawi, confirmed that work is currently underway to implement the issued assignments regarding the supply of the required shipments of petroleum materials to the electricity sector, noting that work is currently underway on an integrated plan that includes increasing the production of petroleum materials, which will contribute to eliminating the problem of power outages radically, according to his expression.
arrears
Arrears to companies and contractors had begun to accumulate in Egypt due to the shortage of hard currency after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government said in March that Cairo had begun paying what it owed to oil and gas companies operating in the country after the crisis eased following a record investment deal, the devaluation of the pound and the expansion of Egypt’s existing program with the International Monetary Fund.
Badawi, the Minister of Petroleum, said in televised local statements yesterday that his ministry will work with foreign companies regarding the arrears owed to the companies.
Last June, Egypt awarded tenders to supply 20 shipments of liquefied natural gas, in the largest purchase of the fuel transported by sea, with the aim of covering high demand in the summer from July to September.
About 21 shipments of liquefied natural gas will arrive in Egypt during the summer, in addition to shipments of diesel fuel, the official Middle East News Agency quoted a petroleum ministry spokesman as saying on Monday.
The ministry spokesman said the first shipment of gas arrived on Monday and is currently being unloaded for pumping into the national gas grid.
bread support
In another context, the Egyptian Prime Minister said in a press conference today, Thursday, that there are no short-term plans to make further changes to the bread subsidy program.
Egypt, one of the world’s largest wheat importers, raised the price of subsidized bread sharply in June for the first time in decades, a politically sensitive decision that had been postponed for years.
