Renewables despite 72.3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves

Egypt natural gas reserves 72.3 trillion cubic feet

Egypt's confirmed reserves of natural gas reached 72.3 trillion cubic feet after increasing by 6.2 trillion cubic feet in the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy said on Monday, according to state news agency MENA. Fahmy also said that Egypt's confirmed crude oil and condensate reserves had risen to 3.97 billion barrels, MENA said. It added that Fahmy attributed the rise to increased exploration by global companies, more deep sea and Western desert exploration, and recent oil and gas finds.

Egypt, although a significant natural gas exporter, needs to develop renewable energy including wind generation if it is to power its growing domestic industries, a senior Egyptian official said on Monday.

Egypt has the potential for generating 20,000 MW of power from wind at sites on the Red Sea, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said during a visit to Madrid to seek foreign direct investment from Spain.

"We are concerned that, although we have reserves in terms of natural gas and oil, we all know that this has a limitation in terms of period," he told Reuters in an interview, although he added that the unpredictability of exploration results meant it was impossible to say how long reserves would last.

"At the same time, we are under the pressure of the growing demand of the industry in Egypt, so the renewable energy is a very important part of our energy equation at the moment," Rachid said.
"If we are able to generate more energy through renewable sources, whether it's wind or water or solar or nuclear, that means that we can also put our natural gas to better usage in the future," he said, explaining that gas also had other industrial uses apart from being burnt for power.
Foreign direct investment has risen sharply in Egypt since the government began an economic liberalisation programme, and should hit $10 billion this year, up from $2 billion three years ago, Rachid said.