Egypt plans to become a regional center for gas trading, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla told Sputnik.
"First, we want to ensure the safety of our consumption on the local market. Second, we want to become a regional center for gas trading, regardless of whether it is produced here, in the states of the Eastern Mediterranean or in others," El Molla said on the sidelines of the OPEC seminar in Vienna, noting that Egypt has an appropriate infrastructure for exporting gas.
Asked about the decline in Egypt's earnings from gas exports, the minister said the reason was the fall in gas prices on global markets.
Egypt has recently been increasing the production of natural gas; since 2018 the country has refused to import gas. In addition, Cairo has repeatedly spoken about its intention to become a regional energy hub. In mid-January 2020, the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean initialed the first official agreement on the creation of a gas forum.