Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Eng. Tarik Al Mulla presents Gas Regulatory Authority`s achievements for the year 2020/2021
Gas Regulatory Authority held a video conference meeting headed by his Excellency Eng. Tarek El-Molla, the Chairman & Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources to discuss Final achievements for the year 2020/2021 as well as the previous three years. Eng. Karem Mahmoud, CEO, reviewed the achievements and success of GasReg`s role since its inception and the issuance of the executive regulations of the gas market activities in February 2018, where a regulatory framework has been developed for all the Gas activities in Egypt in accordance with international practices characterized by transparency and efficiency to ensure the optimal usage of the infrastructure of Networks and Facilities and maintain security of supply, to cope with the sustainable development requirements.
Eng. Tarek El-Molla, the Chairman & Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources emphasized that GasReg has been working efficiently since its inception to perform its role in organizing, implementing and monitoring all related gas market activities to avoid any monopolistic practices in addition to the issuance of the necessary licenses and stating the tariffs of gas facilities usage and its transmission lines via the national grid of natural gas, as well as practicing its competencies that will make a qualitative leap in the gas market and represents a step forward towards the establishment of a free and open gas market in Egypt for the first time, which will positively contribute to attracting new investments from the private sector and international companies, offering the private sector an opportunity to compete in all activities of gas delivery, trading, storing, shipping, and gas distribution within the local gas market, given that it constitutes the main pillar in Egypt’s national project to become a regional hub for gas and oil trade.
Moreover, Eng. Tarek EL-Molla added that the existence of GasReg came as an important step in parallel with other steps progressing to develop Egypt’s infrastructure for gas & oil trade and circulation within the framework of an ambitious work program adopted by the development and modernization project for the petroleum sector. These steps have been taken to shift towards clean energy, reduce carbon emissions and achieve sustainable development within the framework of Egypt’s Vision 2030, which focuses on energy as an economic sustainable development pillar.
CEO, Eng. Karem Mahmoud also clarified that GasReg, since its inception, has prepared a regulatory framework through the objectives in the Gas Market Regulation Law 196/2017 for shipping, transmission, distribution and supply activities to regulate the relationship between the gas market participants, which included approving the controls for practicing these activities from a technical, commercial and a legal point of view, in addition to setting steps to a gradual implementation of liberalizing the Egyptian gas market to reach competitiveness by rehabilitating the infrastructure of networks and their facilities through licenses issued to set work and practice rules in accordance with global practices in preparation for dealing with the regional and international market, as well as issuing operating codes for the transmission network, which included a set of technical and commercial rules that govern the relationship between the operator and users of the network and ensure the gas facilities availability to a third party access according to a methodology prepared by GasReg as an important step in opening and liberalizing the Egyptian gas market.
Finally, Eng. Tarek El-Molla directed to continue towards achieving the main objectives of GasReg during the upcoming period through providing a convenient, neutral and impartial environment for all gas market participants in the Egyptian gas market activities and to follow up the implementation of the legal and regulatory framework in accordance with international practices, and praised the staff of GasReg for their extended efforts towards achieving the desired strategy and objectives of GasReg and bringing it to a developed stage in a short period of time.