Cairo’s acute liquidity crisis is exacerbating state oil firm EGPC’s ability to pay its bills to IOCs for the oil and gas it purchases from them. MEES understands that the total ‘receivables’ owed by EGPC to IOCs active in the country have ballooned back towards $3bn from $850mn at mid-2020, when the amount was last officially disclosed by oil minister Tarek El Molla (MEES, 28 August 2020).

Although $3bn pales in comparison to the $6bn end-2013 figure, it is still a major cause for concern amongst oil firms operating in the country. (CONTINUED - 1375 WORDS)