Egypt’s outstanding arrears to foreign oil companies rose to $3bn at the end of December 2015 from $2.7bn at the end of October, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla has told Reuters.
The ministry had said in September that Egypt aimed to reduce the arrears owed to foreign oil companies to $2.5bn by the end of 2015 and to pay them off completely by the end of 2016, the news agency reported.
“Delays in paying back foreign petroleum companies had discouraged investment in the sector, but a drive to increase the price paid for domestic production and pay back arrears had encouraged new contracts signed in 2015,” said the report.
El Molla did not provide further detail on why total arrears have risen since November, Reuters added.
