Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt paid an amount of $5.5 billion as a part of the dues owed to the foreign companies operating in the Egyptian petroleum sector during the fiscal year 2015/2016, said Tariq al-Mulla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

“The Ministry of Petroleum plans to settle more of the accumulated dues by the end of the fourth quarter of FY2015/16,” added al-Mulla.

Foreign oil company dues with Egypt have declined from $6.3 billion by the end of December 2016 to $3.4 billion by the end of June 2016.

Arrears began to accumulate before the 2011 uprising but they swelled to billions of dollars amid worsening state finances while the government used gas earmarked for export to meet domestic demand.