On May 17, 2022, ECFA hosted Eng. Sameh Fahmy, former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, to talk about “the oil and gas sector and the repercussions of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine on it.” The ssymposium was opened by Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, ECFA Chairman, and Ambassadors: Dr. Ezzat Saad, ECFA Director, Hisham El-Zimaity, Farouk Mabrouk, and Mohamed Mounir, as well as Dr. Yousry Abu Shady, Dr. Sadiq Abdel-Aal, and Mr. Abdel Ghaffar Heneish, and a number of members and researchers interested in the energy sector, following with interest the Ukrainian crisis and its synergies.

Ambassador Zahran first reviewed the historical background of the international interest in the energy sector, and the efforts made in this regard, then Minister Fahmy followed him with a detailed and comprehensive presentation of the global energy system, and the shares of the countries contributing to it in terms of exports, imports, etc., including oil, natural gas, liquefied gas, and petroleum products. The guest stressed that the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on the global energy sector may be unprecedented at the international level, as it led to a massive rise in energy prices, and is likely to increase in the future exponentially, if a solution to the existing crisis is not found. In addition, he noted that the dangers of this must be clearly realized for all countries without exception, and that its continuity is not in the interest of any of the countries involved in the crisis.

In this context, he called for the necessity of diversifying Egyptian energy options with more reliance on renewable energy, in parallel with the need to strengthen the Egyptian position, in connection with the liquefaction stations that give Egypt a great comparative advantage, in addition to the major gas discoveries in the past few years, which contributes to consolidating its position as a regional hub for energy trade and circulation in the Middle East.