Egypt’s Resources

“The natural resources of Egypt mainly refer to the oil and gas of Egypt. The oil reserves of Egypt draw huge annual revenues from its export profits. There are of course other natural resources as well. These include iron ore, phosphate, limestone, manganese, talc, zinc, asbestos and gypsum. However, the analysis of the Egyptian natural resources would remain incomplete without the consideration of those resources, which had been bringing prosperity to the land of Egypt in the ancient times of Pharoic domination.” (http://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/natural-resources/)

Oil and Gas

“The natural resources of Egypt are mainly concentrated on the oil and gas in Egypt. North Africa, in recent times, has been rediscovered for new oil field and the nations of Libya and Egypt are the owners of these oil fields. The oil reserves in Egypt, previously amounted to 3.7 million barrels, which has increased to 8.2 million barrels. ”

Follow the link for more info: http://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/natural-resources/oil-and-gas.html

Bees

“The bees of Egypt play an important role in the economy of Egypt as a great source of honey and wax. These two are very important commercial products in Egypt.”

Follow the Link for more info: http://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/natural-resources/bees.html

“Egypt’s new leadership more inclined to share resources with Ethiopia”

Egypt and Ethiopia used to be at odds over shared usage of the Nile River’s water resources, but Egypt’s new leadership seems to prefer cooperation.

By Alex Thurston, Guest blogger / September 22, 2011

// “On Saturday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf met in Cairo to discuss Ethiopia’s proposed “Grand Renaissance Dam,” which would use some water from the Blue Nile for hydroelectric power. When it was announced in March, the dam project seemed to exacerbate long-standing tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia concerning usage of the Nile. Egypt, whose future water security outlook is somewhat grim, has long taken a significant portion of the Nile – a portion that upstream countries like Ethiopia feel is too large. In 2010, Ethiopia led a number of upstream countries in signing a treaty that would reduce Egypt’s share of the Nile. Egypt and Sudan opposed the treaty, arguing for the maintenance of the status quo. As of this spring, the conflict looked like a tough nut to crack.

Yet Saturday’s meeting in Cairo appears to be hastening a thaw that began with talks late this spring. Egypt and Ethiopia are moving to work out a new arrangement:

“We have agreed to quickly establish a tripartite team of technical experts to review the impact of the dam that is being built in Ethiopia,” Zenawi told a news conference with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. Experts from Sudan will also be part of the team.

“We have agreed to continue to work on the basis of a win-win solution for all countries in the Nile basin,” he added.

[…]

Sharaf said Cairo and Addis Ababa were discussing a “comprehensive development plan” for the two countries.

“We can make the issue of the Grand Renaissance Dam something useful,” he said. “This dam, in conjunction with the other dams, can be a path for development and construction between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.”

The change in Egypt’s stance likely owes much to the change of regime there. Former President Hosni Mubarak was fairly hawkish on Nile issues, but I imagine that the new government has neither the bandwidth nor the appetite to posture aggressively on the issue. At a time when Egypt’s domestic politics as well as regional politics are shifting (South Sudan’s independence makes the Egypt-Sudan pro-Nile status quo alliance somewhat shakier), Egypt’s new leaders are likely keen to have a workable resolution to the issue.

Ironing out details could prove tricky, and meaningful agreements on core issues hard to reach, but I see these talks and their outcome as a positive step for the region.”*

*Find the original article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0922/Egypt-s-new-leadership-more-inclined-to-share-resources-with-Ethiopia

Egypt’s Natural Resources

Egypt  natural resources    

 

Egypt is a significant oil producer and a rapidly growing natural gas producer. The Suez Canal and Sumed Pipeline are strategic routes for Persian Gulf oil shipments, making Egypt an important transit corridor for world energy markets.blue

“Background Egypt is a significant oil producer and a rapidly growing natural gas producer. The Suez Canal and Sumed Pipeline are strategic routes for Persian Gulf oil shipments, making Egypt an important transit corridor for world energy markets.

Hydrocarbons play a sizeable role in Egypt’s economy both from oil and natural gas production and also in terms of revenues from the Suez Canal, an important transit point for oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf. Total oil production, however, has declined since the country’s 1996 peak of close to 935,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) to current levels of about 660,000 bbl/d. Egypt’s consumption is slightly higher than production and the country has begun to rely on a small volume of imports to meet domestic demand. Egypt also has the largest oil refining sector in Africa and since refining capacity now exceeds domestic demand, some non-Egyptian crudes are currently imported for processing and re-export.

Decreases in oil production have been offset by the rapid development of the natural gas sector for both domestic consumption and export. Over the past decade, Egypt has become a significant natural gas producer and a strategic source for European natural gas imports. Egypt currently has a pipeline network for exports to Eastern Mediterranean countries in addition to liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. However, increasing domestic demand for natural gas has led the government to stall natural gas export expansion plans. The government has been actively working to attract foreign investments in the sector to increase exploration, production and downstream activities.

In addition to oil and gas production, Egypt plays an important role in international energy markets through the operation of the Suez Canal and Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) Pipeline, two routes for the export of Persian Gulf oil and LNG. Fees collected from operation of these two transit points is a significant source of revenue for the Egyptian government.

Almost all of Egypt’s 3.2 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy consumption in 2008 was met by oil (45 percent) and natural gas (49 percent). Oil’s share of the energy mix is mostly in the transportation sector but with the development of compressed natural gas (CNG) infrastructure and vehicles, the share of natural gas in the transportation sector is expected to grow.”*

*Follow the link for more details: http://www.globserver.com/en/press/egypt-natural-resources

“Egypt’s Economy Sinks on Heels of Uprising”

Follow the link and it will take you to a recent PBS analysis about the actual situation of the Egyptian economy.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/july-dec11/egypt_09-16.html

Besides the video, the link has a transcript of the different interviews that Margaret Warner made.

An ugly fact about Egypt’s stats…

I think this is a great article. Please take a look at it:

The politics of Egypt’s feeble statistics

In Egypt the state has a virtual monopoly on data, which effectively stops public debate about government decisions

The article talks about the first UN World Statistics Day that took place almost a year ago (20/10/2010)

The author said: “The report spoke of an epidemic of ineptitude among researchers and experts, and the scale of the deficiencies was horrifying, if not altogether surprising” in regards to what was found in the 2010 Egypt stats.

Off course my favorite part is that the author actually mentions something…. something about the religious issues that non-muslims face in Egypt, more specifically the Coptic community: “There are also some issues the Egyptian government (and others like it) would rather not talk about – and having no statistics is as good an excuse as any for shuffling them under the carpet. Sectarian tensions are one example that is considered too sensitive for thorough analysis. Egypt has no official statistics for the number of Christians among its citizens, though the total plainly runs into the millions. There is also a lack of government data on sectarian hotspots (though one Egyptian website has recently taken on the task itself).”

Enjoy the article…. and lets see what this year’s UN World Statistics Day has to offer 😉

Some Basic Egypt Stats!

I found a great website that has not only Egypt’s basic statistical info, but also info from other parts of the world: NationMaster.com (Now, I didn’t say is accurate, please have that in mind!)

So, in regards to Egypt, here are some basic stats about the nation. Please open the links to get more information since I will be only posting stats for the most recent years.

• Age Distribution: http://www.nationmaster.com/country/eg-egypt/Age-_distribution

• Agriculture: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/agr-agriculture&all=1
• Democracy: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/dem-democracy&all=1
• Economy: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/eco-economy&all=1
• Education: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/edu-education&all=1
• Government: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/gov-government&all=1
• Immigration: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/imm-immigration&all=1
• Labor: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/lab-labor&all=1
• Religion: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/rel-religion&all=1
• Terrorism: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/eg-egypt/ter-terrorism&all=1

Please take a closer look at religion stats; later on I plan to develop the religious situation in Egypt, and how it is perceived in the actual revolution.