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)
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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.



Russia’s Inflation Reaches 9.5% This Year, Weekly Data Shows

 Pedestrians walk to an underground passage at Manezhnaya Square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities with the Historical Museum and the Kremlin Wall in the background in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP)
Pedestrians walk to an underground passage at Manezhnaya Square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities with the Historical Museum and the Kremlin Wall in the background in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP)
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Russia’s Inflation Reaches 9.5% This Year, Weekly Data Shows

 Pedestrians walk to an underground passage at Manezhnaya Square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities with the Historical Museum and the Kremlin Wall in the background in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP)
Pedestrians walk to an underground passage at Manezhnaya Square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities with the Historical Museum and the Kremlin Wall in the background in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP)

Russia's inflation has reached 9.5% this year, according to new weekly data showing that the consumer price index rose by 0.33% in the week leading up to Dec. 23, the statistical agency Rosstat reported on Wednesday.

This data follows the central bank's unexpected decision last week to maintain its key interest rate at 21%. The regulator said recent tightening has created conditions conducive to reducing inflation towards its target of 4%.

The agency indicated that seasonally volatile prices for fruit and vegetables contributed significantly to the overall increase, with cucumber prices rising by 8.3% and tomato prices by 1.9% in just one week.

Among less seasonally sensitive foods, the price of eggs increased by 1.7%, and frozen fish by 1.4%. The central bank had initially estimated this year's inflation at a maximum of 8.5%.

The central bank's monetary policy department's head Andrei Gangan told the Interfax news agency on Dec. 24 that full-year inflation will be between 9.6% and 9.8%.

Inflationary expectations among households for the coming year also reached 13.9% in December, the highest level since the beginning of the year.

In a report on its inflationary expectations survey, the central bank said respondents were most concerned about rising prices for milk, dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish.

It also said respondents have begun to notice increases in the prices of home appliances and electronic devices.