Egypt electricity sector owes LE80 billion in fuel payment arrears
Power generation still largely reliant on petrol fuels in a country which
still heavily subsidises them
Ahram Online , Sunday 28 Dec 2014
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/119001/Business/Economy/Egypt-electricity-sector-owes-LE-billion-in-fuel-p.aspx

Egypt’s electricity sector owes a total of LE80 billion ($11.2 billion)
in arrears for oil products supplied by the country’s petroleum ministry,
state-run news agency MENA reported on Sunday.

Electric power generation in the country of 87 million is still largely
reliant on fossil fuels such as natural gas, mazut, and diesel.

Electricity production accounts for some 67 percent of domestic consumption
of natural gas, of which Egypt became a net importer in recent years, as
slowing production has failed to keep up with rising local demand.

The government set feed-in tariffs for renewable energy production for the
first time in September, in an effort to diversify the sources of power
generation through private sector investment.

Last month, the ministry of petroleum also vowed to pay the $4.9 billion in
arrears owed to foreign oil and gas firms operating in Egypt within six
months, to stimulate exploration and production, which had all but ground to
a halt in recent years.

The ministry of finance shoulders 50 percent of the costs incurred on the
ministry of petroleum on behalf of the electricity sector each month, which
amount to between LE3.6 and 3.9 billion, an official at the Egyptian General
Petroleum Corporation told MENA.

It is accountable for LE36 billion out of the LE80 billion owed by the
ministry of electricity.

In an effort to rein in a growing budget deficit, Egypt raised the prices of
widely-used fuels and electricity earlier this year, with the aim to cut its
state fuel subsidy bill by LE44 billion in the current fiscal year.

The government is now predicting a LE70 billion ($9.8 billion) fuel subsidy
bill for the 2014/2015 fiscal year, taking into account the falling global
price of oil.