*Egypt’s Oil Minister Tarek El Molla early last year set a goal of Egypt achieving oil self-sufficiency by mid-2022 (MEES, 1 March 2019).

*This long looked a forlorn target. Oil output has since continued to trend down rather than up (MEES, 28 August and MEES, 31 July). In March production fell below 600,000 b/d for the first time since the early 1980s. And, with the exception of June’s 602,000 b/d, it has remained there since. (CONTINUED - 173 WORDS)