Egypt, US Launch 1st Strategic Dialogue on Energy

Egypt and the United States (US) has launched on Thursday 1st strategic dialogue on energy field, in the presence of Tarek Al-Mulla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Dan Brouillette, US Deputy Energy Secretary, and Gaber El Desouky, Electricity Holding Company Head on behalf of Egypt’s electricity Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaker.

In his speech, Al-Mulla hailed the deep historic Egyptian-American relations, noting that the strategic dialogue aims at supporting further cooperation in the energy field as well as it represents a chance to exchange views on available investment opportunities in the energy sector to strengthen trade links and increase foreign direct investments.

Moreover, the minister reviewed the progress witnessed by oil and gas sectors in Egypt over the last years, in the light of the government adoption of “Egypt Vision 2030” strategy, aiming at creating a competitive and persified economy based on innovation, technology and social justice.

“Egypt has become one of the major and fastest growing economies in the region,” Al Mulla confirmed.

The oil sector has achieved the highest investment rates in its history amounted to $ 30 billion and the highest rates of natural gas and crude oil production amounted to nearly 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Al-Mulla stressed that the ministry has started implementing an integrated program to develop and modernize the petroleum sector to ensure the sustainability of these achievements and  accomplish more successes in the future.

On his part, the US deputy energy secretary said that Egypt-US strategic dialogue will facilitate close cooperation between the government and the private sector in the field of energy, and will focus on the development of oil, gas, energy and electricity sectors.

“The strategic dialogue reflects the US continued support for the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum and Egypt's role as a regional energy hub for natural gas and electricity,” the US official confirmed.

Additionally, El Desouky underlined the importance of the strategic dialogue as a tool to support the joint economic relations between the two countries. He also reviewed the ongoing projects in the electricity field, which would qualify Egypt as an electrical linkage center among Africa, Asia and Europe continents.

“Egypt is eyeing to generate 42% of its electricity from renewable energies by 2035,” electricity holding company head revealed.