A man refuels a car with natural gas at a gas station in Cairo, Egypt, July 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
Egypt's decision to require all new cars to be able to use natural gas will allow economic and environmental gains for the gas-rich country, experts said.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said recently that Egypt will grant licenses to new vehicles only if they can operate on the bi-fuel system.
Sisi explained that the move aims at preserving the environment and making use of the country's abundant natural gas production.
The most populous Arab country will also replace some 1.3 million private cars and 50,000 taxis that have been used for more than 20 years.
It also plans to convert hundreds of thousands of other vehicles to bi-fuel models at a total cost of around 20 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Trade and Industry Ministry.
The Egyptian government aims to convert 147,000 petroleum-powered taxis and microbuses to gas-powered models during the next three years, and 240,000 diesel-powered microbuses during the next four years.
A total of 366 natural gas fuelling stations are planned to be built nationwide as part of the initiative, according to the ministry.
"Using natural has as fuel will help Egypt reduce traditional fuel imports, have cleaner environment as well as making use of its natural resources," Abu Bakr al-Deeb, a Cairo-based economic expert, told Xinhua.
He said car owners will be able to save more than 50 percent given the low costs of natural gas relative to petrol and diesel.
"Using natural gas achieves economic and financial gains and will definitely reduce emissions of petroleum fuel. This will provide a clean environment," al-Deeb added.
Meanwhile, Egypt will import less petroleum when vehicles use natural gas as fuel, which will help the North African country save hard currency, he said, noting Egypt currently imports 7 million tons of petroleum products every month.
Egypt's imports of petroleum products decreased in 2019 to 9.4 billion dollars, while its petroleum exports increased to 4.9 billion dollars, according to the country's official statistics agency.
Cairo aspires to become a regional hub for the trade of oil and liquefied natural gas after major discoveries were made in recent years, including the Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean that holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Egypt witnessed a seven-percent increase in oil and gas production in 2019 by producing some 650,000 barrels of crude oil and 7.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, according to the data of the Petroleum Ministry.
Since July 2014, Egypt has signed more than 82 gas and oil exploration deals with investors, with a minimum investment of about 16 billion dollars.
"The move to use gas as fuel will help consumers economically as they will save between 50 percent to 60 percent of the cash they used to pay for buying traditional fuel," Osama Aboul-Magd, head of the Egyptian Automotive Dealers Association, told Xinhua.
For those whose cars are older than 20 years, Aboul-Magd suggested the government provide soft loans with very low interests for them to be able to buy new gas-fuelled cars.
In July, Sisi said the government will offer car owners soft financing for the conversion of their petrol-powered vehicles to operate on natural gas, as well as low-interest loans for owners of old cars to get new ones.
Editor: Galia
