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Egypt: EGAS Launches Bid for Gas Explorations in Mediterranean

An aerial view shows the newly arrived foundation platform of Leviathan natural gas field, in the Mediterranean Sea (File photo: Reuters)
An aerial view shows the newly arrived foundation platform of Leviathan natural gas field, in the Mediterranean Sea (File photo: Reuters)
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Egypt: EGAS Launches Bid for Gas Explorations in Mediterranean

An aerial view shows the newly arrived foundation platform of Leviathan natural gas field, in the Mediterranean Sea (File photo: Reuters)
An aerial view shows the newly arrived foundation platform of Leviathan natural gas field, in the Mediterranean Sea (File photo: Reuters)

Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) plans to launch a global bid for gas explorations in the western Mediterranean region during H1 of 2020, an official source said.

Local media quoted on Monday the source, which asked not to be named, as saying that EGAS is currently working on determining the areas to be offered during the bid and obtaining approvals.

Last year, the Ministry of Petroleum completed the second phase of the seismic survey project for the western Mediterranean region in preparation for launching a global bid for oil and natural gas exploration.

It also launched in 2018 the implementation of the seismic survey project in the Gulf of Suez with Schlumberger.

According to the company's report for the last fiscal year, EGAS seeks to drill 15 exploration wells in the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean during the current fiscal year at an estimated cost of $422 million.

EGAS also established 12 development projects with an initial production of 2.046 billion cubic feet of gas per day, with an average added production of about 1.464 billion cubic feet per day, at an investment cost of $7.108 billion.

Egypt's natural gas production in FY2017-18 rose to 2.51 trillion cubic feet.

Meanwhile, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Molla received Monday Norwegian Ambassador Lena Natasha Lind and reviewed the procedures and programs that led to increasing investments in the petroleum and natural gas sectors.

The two sides discussed boosting cooperation in the petroleum and gas domains.

Molla pointed to the promising exploration areas in the Western Mediterranean and Red Sea, which represent good opportunities for international companies, as well as the maritime areas of the member countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum.

The Norwegian diplomat expressed the Norwegian companies’ desire to increase their investments in the petroleum domain, citing investments by Equinor energy company and other Norwegian specialized service companies.

Lind praised the contribution of the Norwegian company BGS in the two-dimensional seismic research and data processing project carried out for the EGAS.

She invited Molla to attend the World Petroleum Conference and Exhibition to be held in Norway in August 2020.

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Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
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Russian Central Bank Head Warns of Turbulent Times ahead Despite Slowing Inflation

Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo
Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo

The Russian economy has adapted to Western sanctions and inflation is now slowing, but turbulent times and major technological shifts lie ahead, central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.

Despite the sanctions, the Russian economy grew by 4.3% last year but is set to slow sharply in 2025, with many officials and economists saying that the current model has exhausted its growth potential.

"We have adapted to some external challenges (but) no, we are facing very turbulent times ahead," said Nabiullina, who is widely credited with steering the Russian economy through the Ukraine military conflict and resulting sanctions.

"But I am confident that this also presents new opportunities for development and for increasing labor productivity in conditions of expensive labor. We base our efforts on this," she told a banking conference.

She stressed that the high cost of labor - spurred by the military spending that has led to a wage growth spiral in many sectors, as well as by curbs on immigration - would remain for a long time, Reuters reported.

Nabiullina said the economy should in future rely entirely on domestic sources of financing as cheap funding from abroad, abundant before the Ukraine conflict, is no longer available.

"In my view, structural adaptation to external constraints has been completed. We have demonstrated our ability to adapt to these challenges, but now we are facing structural shifts of an entirely new kind, primarily technological ones," she said.

"They may have even more far-reaching consequences than what we experienced over the past two years," Nabiullina said, mentioning artificial intelligence applications in the economy as one such challenge.

INFLATION SLOWING

The central bank, which has faced heavy criticism over its tight monetary policy, began cutting its key interest rate last month as prices started to come down, helped by the rouble's strength.

Nabiullina said inflation is now slowing faster than the central bank expected, and there are signs of easing in the severity of labor market shortages.

She said that if economic indicators pointed to a more significant slowdown than anticipated, the central bank would have room for bolder interest rate cuts. She dismissed statements by critics of the bank, who want deeper cuts, that the cooling of the economy was excessive.

Nabiullina also rejected statements from many businessman and bankers that the rouble is now overvalued and should weaken to please exporting companies, which saw their revenues shrink as the rouble rallied by over 40% against the dollar this year.

"A weak exchange rate is often a sign of vulnerability, a result of chronically high inflation and a lack of confidence in one’s own currency. It is hardly something to strive for," she said.