Egypt to cut IOC receivables in half within weeks -El Molla

Egypt will repay half of everything it owes international oil companies “within weeks,” Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said, according to Reuters. Egypt’s overdue arrears to IOCs are estimated to be USD 3.5 bn. A source told Al Shorouk the payments will be made using the African Development Bank’s and World Bank’s second tranches of their loans to Egypt. El Molla also said the agreement to import about 1 mn barrels of crude from Iraq should be completed within a month. He also said Egypt will look into exporting natural gas from 2019.