In his speech on Tuesday at the Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) currently being held in Cairo, Andre Baran, France's ambassador to Egypt, called for French companies operating in the oil and gas sector to take advantage of investment opportunities in the Egyptian market and to develop partnerships with Egypt in this field, particularly in the context of historical relations between Cairo and Paris. Baran noted that Egypt has various oil and gas resources, but its hasn't covered its needs from the oil sector since 2011, nor from the gas sector since 2014, adding that the Egyptian government would like to reduce oil and gas imports through the implementation of infrastructure development, which carries tremendous business opportunities, in both refinery-updating and improvement programmes, as well as new natural gas explorations in the Mediterranean, such as "Zohr" field. "This is a huge market, and its poised to grow bigger tomorrow," said Baran, noting the presence of nearly 150 branches of French companies operating in Egypt, including oil and gas companies such as oil giant Total. "This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of working in Egypt and the production of nearly 40 million barrels a day," said Marc Benayoun, CEO of Edison, adding that he is happy to participate in EGYPS, since it's a historic time for Egypt. New natural gas explorations will bring self-sufficiency to the country and will bring export opportunities as well on the long run. Nicolas Katcharov, managing director of Edison North Africa and Middle East's Egypt branch, said that his company is looking to provide its technical expertise to Egypt, and to contribute to the development of the oil and gas sector.
