Egypt claims it has paid $5 billion in arrears to its foreign oil partners

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa. Madbouly announced that Egypt had paid $5 billion to foreign oil and gas partners in arrears and hopes to reduce the remaining debt to $1.2 billion by June 2026.

He said that the arrears would be $6.1 billion by June 30, 2024. The?government will also pay the monthly invoices of the partners. Egypt's?foreign exchange shortage forced them to delay payments to international oil companies that operate in Egypt. This slowed investment and contributed to a decline in gas output, forcing it to rely on expensive LNG cargoes or imports. Egypt began paying oil companies after a $35 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates in 2024 for the right to develop a prime stretch on Egypt's mediterranean coastline.

According to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative, Egypt produced 3,635 mcm of gas in Oct. last year. This is up slightly from 3,525 mcm in Sept. but down from 3,851 million cm in October 2024. (Reporting and writing by Momen Saeed atallah, editing by Tomaszjanowski)

(source: Reuters)