Egypt's cabinet media center has denied that the prices of gas cylinders hiked due to the shortage in supply.
In a statement on Saturday, the center quoted the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources as saying that the increase in prices is incorrect, and there was no shortage in supply as well.
The Ministry said the official price for a gas cylinder remained at EGP65, adding that the market received 2.200 million cylinders daily.
However, it stressed that it makes field visits to markets to prevent any manipulative practices.
In the meantime, the center highlighted an increase in natural gas consumption in addition to an increase in the number of residential units to which natural gas was delivered during the past three years. The units reached 11.5 million compared to 8.2 million in September of 2017.
In this context, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has signed nine new petroleum agreements to search for petroleum and natural gas in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea with six major international and Egyptian companies.
The new agreements are valued at more than USD1 billion.
The ministry said in a press statement that the companies will drill 17 wells in the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea and regional water of the Red Sea.
