Ministry of Petroleum is seeking to reduce fuel imports by more than half to 12% of total energy imports by 2021, down from a current 30%. Ministry sources told Youm7 that the government is planning to increase its crude oil production within the comings months to achieve this target and is planning to have fuel production cover 88% of local demand. This came days after the Ministry had signed three new agreements for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Suez and North Sinai. Egypt is positioning itself as a regional hub for energy exports.