Tarek El Hadidy

EGPC is the entity through which the Egyptian government manages the country’s hydrocarbon sources. The company was founded in 1956 but was known as General Petroleum Authority until it was renamed to EGPC in 1962. It wasn’t before 1976, however, that Egypt became a net exporter of crude oil. Throughout its history, the company always enjoyed a close relationship with the Egyptian ministry of oil. It owns 12 public sector companies including subsidiaries like Suez Oil Processing Co, Cairo Petroleum Refining Co, Western Desert Petroleum Co, Belayim Petroleum Co, Suez Oil Co, Geisum Oil Co, El Amal Petroleum Co, The Arab Petroleum Pipelines Co, and Egyptian Natural Gases Co. Along with its partners, EGPC has a total paid capital of $938mn. Even though the low oil prices impacted the company and the oil and gas industry of Egypt at large, EGPC managed to overcome these tough times through seeking successful partnerships. Prior to Aramco’s decision to resume suspended oil shipments, Egypt approached other potential energy partners in the region. In the meantime, Kuwaiti newspapers reported that the Kuwaiti cabinet had approved a nine-months extension of oil exports to Egypt, allowing up to 2mn barrels of oil to be delivered each month.