Egypt Will Continue to Rationalise Energy Subsidies Despite Giant Gas Find

Egypt will not slow down efforts to slash energy subsidies despite recent discovery of massive natural gas reserves, country’s finance minister said Monday.  

"It will not stop us from continuing to implement the reforms that we need ... or give us room to maneuver with delays," country’s finance minister Hany Kadry Dimian said at a business conference in Cairo organized by Euromoney, reported AFP.

Eni late last month said it has made a “world class supergiant gas discovery” at its Zohr prospect, in the deep waters of Egypt.

According to Eni, the discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place (5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place) covering an area of about 100 square kilometres. Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world’s largest natural-gas finds.

This exploration success will give a major contribution in satisfying Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades, Eni said.

Analysts have voiced concerns that the windfall income from the find could lead Egypt to freeze the much-needed economic reforms, AFP reported.