Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday (January 31st) inaugurated the offshore Zohr gas field, aimed at making the country self-sufficient in natural gas by the end of 2018, AFP reported.
"We are now entering into the self-sufficiency stage... and, God willing, by the end of the year we will have reached self-sufficiency," Petroleum Minister Tarek al-Molla said at a ceremony in Port Said, broadcast live on state television.
In December, the oil ministry said it was starting production from the field discovered in 2015 by Italian energy giant Eni with an initial 10 million cubic metres a day.
Al-Molla said Egypt expects it "will be able to stop importing liquefied natural gas... and therefore save what we import, which is $230 million per month, or $2.8 billion annually".
