عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Egypt Begins Operation of Zohr Offshore Gas Field

Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on Saturday that the offshore Zohr gas field was now live. (AFP)
Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on Saturday that the offshore Zohr gas field was now live. (AFP)
TT
TT

Egypt Begins Operation of Zohr Offshore Gas Field

Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on Saturday that the offshore Zohr gas field was now live. (AFP)
Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on Saturday that the offshore Zohr gas field was now live. (AFP)

Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on Saturday that the offshore Zohr gas field was now live.

The gas field, located in the Mediterranean, will produce an initial 350 million cubic feet per day, it said.

Discovered in 2015 by Italy’s Eni, the field contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Egypt has been seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
TT
TT

Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Sanctions have complicated Russia's trade with its major partners such as China or Türkiye, as local banks are extremely cautious with Russia-related transactions to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators, according to Reuters.

This year, Russia permitted the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to make it legal to mine cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Russia is one of the global leaders in bitcoin mining.

“As part of the experimental regime, it is possible to use bitcoins, which we had mined here in Russia (in foreign trade transactions),” Siluanov told Russia 24 television channel.

“Such transactions are already occurring. We believe they should be expanded and developed further. I am confident this will happen next year,” he said, adding that international payments in digital currencies represent the future.

Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that the current US administration was undermining the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets.

He singled out bitcoin as an example of such assets, saying that no-one in the world could regulate bitcoin. Putin's remarks indicated that the Russian leader backs the extensive use of cryptocurrencies.