Earlier today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi opened the 6th Egypt Petroleum Show and Conference (EGYPS 2023), held at the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC) under the theme “North Africa and The Mediterranean: Supporting Sustainable Global Energy Supply and Demand”.
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli attended the EGYPS inauguration alongside Petroleum Minister Tarek Mulla, among several ministers and top state officials.
CEOs of oil and natural gas sectors worldwide are taking part in the event alongside a cluster of energy ministers, government representatives, senior EU officials, secretaries of major international energy organizations, and energy business tycoons.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi posed for a photo op with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla, and heads of the major international companies operating in the energy and petroleum domains.
The event began with a short documentary film on the unprecedented fluctuations the world has witnessed in 2022 and how securing energy resources became an exigency.
The film highlighted that Egypt managed to realize swift development over the past years, thus becoming a regional energy hub under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
The film referred to Egypt’s efforts in upgrading the infrastructure and launching major development projects in addition to hosting the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27).
It also pointed out that Egypt announced its petroleum sector strategy during COP27’s Decarbonization Day.
The film further stressed that EGYPS 2023 represents a great opportunity to stand on the means of overcoming major international economic challenges in light of the current geopolitical conditions, inflation, stagnation challenges, and development of the current generation of working systems of the energy, natural gas, and petroleum sectors.
After the documentary film, President of the DMG Events, the organizer of EGYPS 2023, Christopher Hudson, delivered a speech in which he underlined that the exhibition seeks to showcase Egypt’s potential as a strategic partner in the energy domain, thus becoming a major energy hub.
Hudson thanked President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for his support for the event and welcomed attendants of the international event.
He also thanked Petroleum Minister Tarek Molla for his efforts at the event, which is considered a major international platform.
He noted that there are over 500 exhibitors at the event and 30,000 visitors from 70 countries are expected to attend within the coming three days to participate in dialogue and build partnerships at the local, regional, and international levels.
Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Haitham al Ghais underlined the great attention Egypt gives to the energy, oil, and gas industries.
Ghais voiced appreciation and extended his thanks to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for sponsoring such a high-level event in the oil industry domain.
He said the organization has clinched a deal with Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla in Cairo to be implemented by 2059.
Haitham al Ghais also said demands for oil have been on the rise lately, up to 202 M barrels daily, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made clear that pumping investments in the energy domain is necessary for achieving stability in the market, calling for rallying all efforts to secure energy for everyone.
He thanked President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Molla for opening this important platform to exchange viewpoints on energy.
For his part, Petroleum Minister Tarek Molla delivered a speech, in which he commended El-Sisi’s sponsorship of the event which is important at this time as the world is facing major energy challenges.
He said Egypt capitalized on all its potential to confront the energy crisis.
He added that the petroleum sector achieved many successes last year, citing the increase of petroleum exports to $18.2 B and achieving a surplus in the petroleum balance of trade for the third consecutive year amounting to $3 B.
He noted that four international tenders in the excavation domain were launched through “Egypt Upstream Gateway” last year, in addition to three more that will initiate this year.
Molla said an ambitious plan was drafted with international partners to dig more than 300 exploratory wells, explaining that as part of Egypt’s role as an energy hub, the petroleum sector succeeded over the past eight years in developing infrastructure by increasing the number of ports and platforms to receive butane gas carriers and adding 79 depots for crude oil and petroleum products storage.
He highlighted that in the refining domain, eight new projects were carried out, three of which were inaugurated by President El-Sisi.
Furthermore, he underlined that as part of the Decent Life Initiative, natural gas was supplied to over 200 villages, while the petroleum sector managed to maintain the annual rate of natural gas delivery to the household at 2.2 M housing units.
The petroleum minister said the number of cars converted to operate on natural gas jumped to nearly 500,000, and the number of gas stations has doubled to reach roughly 900 stations.
In order to maximize the added value and reduce exports, several petrochemical projects were implemented and efforts are underway to implement other ones, he said.
He stressed that the petroleum sector is moving towards achieving its strategic goals in a way that serves the economic dimension of sustainable development in Egypt without turning our back on our responsibility towards the social and environmental dimensions.
Molla said the petroleum sector has adopted a new unified strategy for social responsibility based on sustainability to support and increase the contribution of the sector and its partners in community development.
Given the environmental dimension, the issue of climate change and energy transition came at the top of the petroleum sector’s priorities, he said. Last November, Egypt succeeded in organizing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 27 which was characterized by inclusiveness and the transition from pledges to action.
At the end of his word, the minister said EGYPS is an important platform to exchange ideas and initiatives to boost regional and global integration in the gas and petroleum domains.
