Egypt’s Natural Gas Export Revenue Spikes 171%

Liquefied natural gas complex in Damietta, Egypt (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Liquefied natural gas complex in Damietta, Egypt (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt’s Natural Gas Export Revenue Spikes 171%

Liquefied natural gas complex in Damietta, Egypt (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Liquefied natural gas complex in Damietta, Egypt (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla said on Wednesday that Egypt’s output of petroleum products amounted to around 79.5 MT in 2022, including around 50.6 MT of natural gas.

Egypt’s exports of natural gas rose to $8.40 billion in 2022, a surge of 171 percent from around $3.50 billion in 2021.

The leap in Egypt’s revenues from natural gas sales was attributed to a global increase in export prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

El-Molla revealed that the oil sector managed to benefit from the Egyptian government's plan to rationalize gas consumption in electricity, in order to provide additional quantities for export and benefit from the high LNG global prices.

He further assured that the domestic market demand was met, noting a spike of six percent in consumption.

According to the Minister, Egypt achieved 53 new oil and gas discoveries in 2022. The discoveries include 42 oil wells and 11 gas wells in the Western Desert, the Suez Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Nile Delta.

This is paying off with new international companies working in Egypt, specifically ExxonMobil and Chevron.

The minister confirmed that Egypt is becoming a regional hub for gas and petroleum trade, encouraging the European Union and neighboring countries to bolster cooperation and foster economic ties with Egypt in the energy sector.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."