Egypt's arrears to foreign oil firms fall to $900 million

Egypt’s arrears to foreign oil companies declined to $900 million at the end of June from $1.2 billion a year ago, the petroleum minister said on Thursday, adding that the remaining amount would be paid soon.

The Egyptian government had told the International Monetary Fund in a letter in January it intended to “eliminate” arrears by the end of June.
Arrears to foreign oil companies accumulated after the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and reached $6.3 billion in the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

They have steadily declined since 2014 as Egypt sought to become a regional energy hub. Egypt owed foreign oil firms $2.4 billion in June 2017, falling to $1.048 million in December.

“The foreign companies’ arrears dropped at end of June to $900 million, down from $1.2 billion a year earlier,”