Eni to Invest $7.7 Bn in Egypt’s Energy Sector

An offshore gas platform of the Italian company Eni. (Getty Images)
An offshore gas platform of the Italian company Eni. (Getty Images)
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Eni to Invest $7.7 Bn in Egypt’s Energy Sector

An offshore gas platform of the Italian company Eni. (Getty Images)
An offshore gas platform of the Italian company Eni. (Getty Images)

Eni Energy Company President Claudio Descalzi said the Italian company and its partners intend to inject new investments into Egypt over the coming four years at a value of $7.7 billion.

The investment reflects the Italian energy company’s commitment to boosting its successful projects in Egypt.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received Descalzi during a meeting attended by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla and senior Eni officials.

Descalzi underscored Egypt’s great importance as one of the significant markets for Eni’s activities and business worldwide, given the promising opportunities in its energy sector, noting the state and president’s interest in upgrading this vital sector and maximizing its revenues.

Descalzi reviewed the company’s upcoming search and exploration plans and development operations activities. He also highlighted the progress achieved in energy efficiency and sustainability projects related to the energy transition, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in March 2023.

Presidency Spokesman Ahmad Fahmy said Sisi underscored the outstanding Egyptian-Italian relations and the longstanding partnership with Eni.

He praised the numerous activities the company has implemented in Egypt at the highest global standards.

He said he looks forward to further advancing the fruitful cooperation between Egypt and Eni in search, exploration, development, and production to leverage the national resources in the energy sector and enhance the vast successes.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting to discuss procedures of the new incentive package for industrial investment ordered by Sisi.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir, Chairman of the General Authority for Industrial Development Mohamed Abdel Karim, and Executive Director of Industrial Modernization Center Doaa Salima.

The Minister of Trade explained that the new incentives to push industrial investment aim to achieve one or more goals that include deepening local manufacturing.

They are also devised to attract investments in production input industries, cover local needs for strategic goods, especially pharmaceuticals, shrink the trade balance deficit, reduce the demand for the dollar for import operations, expand exports, and increase employment rates.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.