EGPC was established by the Egyptian government in 1962 and is considered the first economic corporation established in the petroleum industry in Egypt. It is active in the upstream, downstream and petrochemical sectors, has full responsibility for all sectors of the Egyptian petroleum industry and holds the sole right to import and export crude oil and other petroleum products. As a controller of the industry, any foreign investments in Egypt are maintained through a joint venture with the EGPC and are supervised by the government. Among the major activities of the EGPC are petroleum agreements, exploration, production, transportation and refining.
Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)
Recognizing
the increasing importance of natural gas, the Egyptian government
created EGAS in August 2001. The purpose of existence of EGAS is to
manage foreign investment in exploration and the use of LNG (Liquefied
Natural Gas) tankers, production and infrastructure. In addition
to handling all the actions of natural gas industry in Egypt, EGAS has
a mission of employing an active plan which encompasses the following:
To prove additional gas reserves,
EGAS plans to develop intensive exploration programs, based on the
application of the most advanced exploration techniques and concepts.
To maximize NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) recovery and enhance the petrochemical industry,
EGAS plans to: (1) develop a complete framework for integration, and
(2) upgrade the natural gas recovery facilities and transmission
infrastructure.
To expand gas export activities,
EGAS plans to: (1) increasing gas export pipelines to link with the
European Gas Pipeline system, and (2) implementing additional LNG
(Liquefied Natural Gas) trains within the Ministry of Petroleum policy
guidelines.
To achieve sustainable development, EGAS plans to continue enhancement of gas utilization in the domestic market.
Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM)
ECHEM is a holding company assigned to manage and market Egypt’s
emerging petrochemical industry. It is a major corporation in Egypt
established in 2002, with a mission of developing a competitive
petrochemicals industry based on the use advanced technology. ECHEM
promotes investment, facilitates the development of new projects owns
and is continuing to establish production plants. ECHEM has a 20-years
plan to develop the petrochemical industry based on natural gas
reserves of Egypt, which form the backbone of the petrochemical
industry.
Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE)
GANOPE, previously known as the South Valley Development Company
(SVDC), was established in January 2003 to promote development
activities specifically in Upper Egypt (Sohag, Aswan, Assyout, Qena, AL
Wadi El-Gedied), which represent over half of Egypt's total area.
GANOPE is the chief corporation assigned by the Egyptian government for
handling and assessing all petroleum activities in the south area of
Egypt.
Foreign Companies and Egyptian Private Sector Companies
In addition to the holding companies (EGPC, EGAS, ECHEM
and GANOPE), there are foreign companies and Egyptian private sector
companies operating the Egyptian petroleum sector. These companies are
granted concession areas for exploration purposes in accordance with
the periodic bidding rounds administered by the relevant holding
company. There are over 50 international companies that operate in the
exploration, excavation and production of oil and gas in Egypt.
