Egypt's new Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Egypt's cabinet approved on Wednesday a law regulating the natural gas market, which establishes a new authority to oversee the market, reported official news agency MENA.
The new law aims to regulate the relations between gas producers and distributors (from both the public and private sectors) and consumers, petroleum ministry spokesperson, Hamdy Abdel Aziz told Ahram Online, noting that the law is yet to be enacted.
The law, which was drafted in collaboration with the European Union, allows producers and importers to directly sell natural gas to consumers through a transparent manner regulated by the newly established authority, former petroleum minister Sherif Ismail told state TV in August.
The new regulations would allow several institutions to enter the gas market and boost competitiveness, Reinhold Brender, deputy head of the European Union delegation to Egypt told state TV in August.
Egypt has suffered from an energy crunch since the summer of 2008, which was worsened by falling production on the back of accumulating arrears to foreign energy firms after the 2011 uprising.
Short link: