Energy

With exploration continuing apace, the country’s hydrocarbons reserves continue to rise, and currently stand at 4.3bn barrels of oil and more than 77trn cu feet of gas. The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation plays the roles of regulator, joint venture partner, licence provider, refiner and marketer for the oil segment. Egypt has the largest refining capacity in Africa, with 10 oil refineries and an overall capacity of 975,000 bpd, but an expansion plan calls for another 600,000 bpd of capacity by 2016. Though the price of gas remains lower than that paid in Europe, Egyptian industries see their competition coming from the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Egypt had intended to use its gas resources to generate employment, but has found that the industrial activities it has attracted are not creating jobs at the pace imagined. This chapter contains interviews with Peter Voser, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell; Hassan Younis, former Minister of Electricity and Energy; Giuseppe De Beni, Managing Director, Italgen.