Egypt pays $1,2 billion in back payments to foreign oil companies

The Egyptian government paid $1,2 billion out of a total of $3,2 billion in arrears to foreign oil companies last week, three officials told Asharq, explaining that Egypt's efforts to pay arrears to foreign oil companies come at a time when it is trying to increase natural gas production after it fell to 4,6 billion cubic feet per day, insufficient to meet the country's daily needs, while Egypt returns to being an importer of liquefied natural gas after five years in the group of exporters.

Egypt's daily natural gas requirement is 6,2 billion cubic feet per day, while daily production reaches 4,6. The government plans to increase natural gas production to 5 billion cubic feet per day by the end of this year.