CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian petroleum minister highlighted Monday that natural gas demand in Africa doubled due to "the increase of local supplies and development of economies in the continent," the ministry's website reported.
Addressing the Mediterranean Energy Observatory Forum, Tarek al-Molla said that "the energy consumption would increase worldwide in the upcoming 50 years."
The consumption of gas and oil tops the world consumption of energy sources with a rate of 80 percent, he said adding that the use of natural gas would increase to meet one fourth of the world demand by 2040.
He stressed the importance of the Mediterranean region for the international gas markets as a result of the recent explorations made in the region including Egypt.
"Using the natural gas could be an optimal solution to standing against climate change challenges in the region," added the minister.
According to official statistics in 2019, Egypt's production rate of natural gas reached 7.2 billion cubic meter per day.
