Energy

Aside from the member states of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Coun¬tries, Egypt is Africa’s largest oil producer, as well as its third-largest producer of dry natural gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Despite the abundance of its natural resources, how¬ever, the country faced an energy crisis following the 2011 revolution, marked by frequent blackouts and a slowdown of foreign investment from international oil and gas interests. In response, the government has undertaken a wholesale reform of its subsidy system, licensed exploration activities in newly discovered fields and renewed its efforts to pay down its outstanding debt. These changes have permitted natural resource development that is more financially sustainable and attracted foreign direct investment to support the exploration and exploitation of new sources. This chapter contains interviews with Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; and Maria Moraeus Hanssen, CEO and Chairman, DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG.