Egypt will increase its natural gas production to between 5.5 and 6 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) by the end of 2019, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said on Sunday, up from the current 3.9 billion cfd.

Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption. It is trying to speed up production at recent discoveries to fill its energy gap as soon as possible.

Egypt currently has 12 natural gas field development projects underway worth a total of $33 billion in investment, Molla said, speaking at the inauguration of a fertilizer plant in the port city of Damietta.

The three largest projects, which include the mammoth Mediterranean gas field Zohr discovered by Italy's Eni last year, are expected to collectively bring 4.6 billion cfd online by the start of 2019, said Molla.

Egypt currently imports around 1-1.1 billion cfd of LNG.