CAIRO: Egypt has earned an average of $5.5 per million British thermal units (BTUs) for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it has exported since exports began in early 2005, Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy was quoted as saying on Friday.
The minimum price for Egyptian gas is $0.75 per million BTUs but that price would apply only when the international price of oil falls to $15 a barrel or less, which has not happened in the last two years, he added in a quote on the Egyptian state news agency Mena.
In a recent lecture publicized by bloggers, Egyptian-born Oxford University economist Robert Mabro, called for a renegotiation of the Egyptian government s contracts with gas buyers to get the country a better price.
He singled out the agreement with the Spanish company Union Fenosa for questioning. It is said that the price to Union Fenosa is low. The highest number mentioned by observers of the Egyptian gas scene is $0.90 (per million BTU). Lower numbers such as $0.65 are sometimes quoted.
If these numbers are gross underestimates EGPC/EGAS (Egyptian state companies) would be wise to publish the true figures in order to set the record straight, he added.
Fahmy gave few other details of the pricing arrangements but said that by changing the gas pricing system in oil agreements in 2000, Egypt had earned $8.5 billion extra since July 2000.
Egypt exports LNG mainly to Europe and the United States. It also exports natural gas by pipeline to Jordan.
