The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has devised a five-year strategy aimed at securing Egypt's energy needs. The plan--to be announced next week at the party's final conference before the presidential elections--aims both to increase domestic production and pursue regional partnerships to fulfil Egypt's needs. It deals with energy security on a domestic, regional and international level. Egypt aims to take advantage of opportunities in neighbouring countries, using its strategic location, one of the authors of the strategy told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have recently built technologically advanced refineries, which will increase their need to create markets for their oil products, the source said. Egypt can use its location to broker marketing partnerships with neighboring countries, at the same time as meeting its domestic needs. Another source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an extension of gas pipes to import natural gas from Qatar was unlikely due to technical difficulties despite the improvement in relations between Egypt and Qatar. The source said no decision to import gas had been made, while the NDP strategy paper leaves the question open, saying Egypt must first establish its capacity and needs. But the paper stresses the need to increase local production of oil and gas, and to improve research and development agreements so that Egypt becomes more appealing to international firms. Incentives are needed to attract foreign investment in the sector, it said. It notes the need to pay close attention to international oil markets and their fluctuations. The source said there would be no discussion of subsidies in the upcoming period to avoid a public outcry, and because of disagreements within the government on the subject. A number of economic models are being considered, the source said. Most of the recommendations presented by the NDP's energy committee have been implemented over the past few years, including the recommendation to pursue a peaceful nuclear energy program to generate electricity and to expand electric stations to liberalize energy prices for factories, the source said.
