CAIRO, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated on Monday the three-day International Petroleum Conference in New Cairo.
In a speech at the opening ceremony, Madbouly said that the conference will create opportunities which can benefit all parties.
He also stressed Egypt's capability in maintaining a plan that has vastly helped its economy in the recent period.
Dubbed "North Africa and the Mediterranean: Meeting Tomorrow's Energy Needs," the conference is being held under the auspices of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and will see the participation of a number of Arab and African oil ministers.
The conference will feature sessions on energy security, women's health, safety, the environment, finance and investment, with more than 200 speakers, including industry officials and experts, and 1,200 delegates.
Hosting 400 companies and 13 countries, the conference will tackle the topics of digital technology in the field of energy and youth empowerment for the first time this year.
Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer in recent years, squeezed by declining production and increasing consumption.
However, Egypt is back on track to be an exporter soon after a big number of recent discoveries across the country that attracted several international firms for oil exploration over the past years.
Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natural gas in hope to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years, including the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, Zohar.
