The Egyptian government paid $1.2 billion of foreign oil companies’ late dues during the past week instead of next October, according to three government sources familiar with the file who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg.

The Egyptian government paid $1.3 billion in payments to foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country by the end of June.

Egypt set a plan to pay the dues amounting to $3.2 billion in 3 installments during the current fiscal year, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg.

 The dues of foreign companies working in the field of oil and gas exploration and extraction to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation amounted to about $4.5 billion, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report last March.

Egypt’s endeavor to pay arrears to foreign oil companies comes at a time when it is trying to increase natural gas production in the country, after it declined to 4.6 billion cubic feet per day.

Egypt’s daily needs of natural gas are 6.2 billion cubic feet per day, while its daily production is about 4.6 billion cubic feet.

 The government aims to increase natural gas production by the end of this year to about 5 billion cubic feet per day.