Fuel bills paid to Egyptian power plants in the past months of February and March rose by around 87.5% to £60 billion, compared to £32 billion in the same period last year, as a direct result of the Iran war, the news website said.
Government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the high fuel costs on a sharp rise in gas and oil prices, as the Iran war has pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel, directly impacting the cost of Egypt’s oil product imports and causing unprecedented turmoil in global energy markets.
fill the gap
Fuel import costs in March last year increased by 56% to about $1.2 billion from about $767 million before the war started.
Egypt imports about 1 million tons of petroleum products every month to bridge the gap between production and local consumption, distributed as 600,000 tons of diesel, 230,000 tons of gasoline, and 170,000 tons of gasoline.
The country consumes about 1 trillion pounds (about $20 billion) worth of petroleum products a year, about 60% of which goes to running power plants. This means that current electricity prices are approximately 75% lower than the actual cost.
size of debt
One of the officials explained that the Ministry of Power pays part of the cost of the fuel used to operate the power plants, about £8 billion a month out of a total of £30 billion, with the rest being paid by the Treasury on the condition that it is recorded as a debt from the Ministry of Power.
This significant increase is directly reflected in the amount of debt between the power and oil sectors, with the oil sector’s debt to the power sector reaching £390bn as of April 1, due to high fuel costs, particularly imported natural gas.
Fuel bills paid to Egyptian power plants rose by around 87.5% to £60 billion in February-March, compared with £32 billion in the same period last year, as a direct result of the Iran war, the news website said.
The government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fuel price hike was due to a sharp rise in gas and oil prices as the Iran war pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel, directly impacting the cost of Egypt’s oil product imports and causing unprecedented disruption to global energy markets.
fill the gap
The fuel import bill in March was about $1.2 billion, an increase of 56% from about $767 million before the war started.
Egypt imports approximately 1 million tons of petroleum products every month to bridge the gap between production and local consumption, including 600,000 tons of diesel, 230,000 tons of gasoline, and 170,000 tons of butane.
The country consumes about 1 trillion pounds (about $20 billion) worth of petroleum products a year, with about 60% of this amount used to run power plants. This means that current electricity prices are approximately 75% lower than the actual cost.
debt amount
One official explained that the Ministry of Power pays part of the cost of the fuel used to operate the power plants, paying around £8 billion a month out of a total of £30 billion, with the remaining amount being borne by the Treasury and recorded as a debt of the Ministry of Power.
This significant increase is directly reflected in the amount of debt between the power and oil sectors, and the official said that due to higher fuel costs, particularly imported natural gas, the oil sector’s share of the power burden rose to £390bn as of April 1.
