Tarek El Molla
The new facility will produce 100,000 tons of bioethanol annually, he said.
He explained that the two agreements are a continuation of Shell’s strategy by focusing its investments in Egypt in the marine concession areas and deep waters.
The government is working to turn Egypt into an international mining hub, Molla told an annual conference of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) via video conference.
He also expounded the country's efforts to expand the use of clean energy as part of efforts to diversify clean energy sources by 2025.
This came during their meeting at the Palestinian presidency headquarters in Ramallah which was attended by Palestinian energy authority chief Zafer Melhem.
Molla added in his statement to the House of Representatives, that the contribution of the mining sector to the GDP is "insignificant", and does not exceed half a percent only, which does not reflect the real capabilities of this sector.
Molla stressed the importance of the geographic and strategic location of Egyptian ports and assured Mercuria representatives about business incentives and infrastructure.
Bloomberg has announced that Egypt is on the course to become one of the world's top 10 natural gas exporters if it reaches full capacity in 2021, backed by the country's endeavors to boost its exports of liquified natural gas, through restarting one of its two production plants.
Molla said that refineries have an important role to play in meeting and securing the needs of the local market for petroleum products.
The minister said this is considered the first phase of an agreement between the two sides that aims at implementing the presidential initiative to expand the national project to use natural gas as a fuel to vehicles.
The petroleum sector has succeeded during the past six years in signing 86 petroleum agreements and attracting new international companies in the field of research and exploration, and the two largest projects to collect geophysical data have been implemented in the Red Sea and the Arab region in the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, Berger said that Egypt is on top of the EU priorities to enhance partnership in energy field, asserting continuing cooperation between the EU and Egypt in this field.
11 mining companies won a gold ore exploration bid on an area of about 170 km2 in the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea.
The number of the housing units benefiting from the project reached to 11.3 million housing units, Molla said.
Molla added Reuters that dues decreased by 5.5 percent, compared to $900 million at the end of 2018/2019 fiscal year.
Located in the conventional Egyptian waters of the Nile Delta, the discovery was announced early this month.
Craft industries' imports also decreased by 27 percent, registering $26 million compared to $ 35 million during the same period in 2019.
In a statement on Thursday, Molla said that the natural gas has been extended for first time to villages and cities in Upper Egypt and densely populated districts.
Sisi highlighted the importance of this vision in helping the exploration of mineral resources nationwide.
The meeting took up the project of electronic boards that display gasoline and diesel prices for consumers at gas stations.
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