Egypt's August Gas Exports Dive 86%

Egypt's natural gas exports declined 86.41 percent during the month of August to $26 million, Egypt Independent newspaper reported citing data released by the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers' Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) earlier this week.

With local consumption rising amid declining output, the government has been diverting natural gas supplies away from exports to the local market.

The North Africa nation has been facing severe decline in gas output despite new discoveries. The deficit has reached about 2 billion cubic feet per day while the current output stands at 4.9 billion, compared with 5.6 billion produced the same time last year, the newspaper stated,

Earlier this month state owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said it plans to invest close to $4 billion in 2014-2015 to boost natural gas production.