Addressing a council session, the president said his administration has inherited a severe energy imbalance, however adding, “Given the country’s facilities and capacities, it is possible to redress the imbalance.”

He also stressed the need for boosting the generation of renewable energies, utilizing the knowledge-based companies’ expertise for optimizing energy consumption and reducing energy waste, complying with energy-saving regulations of the construction industry, and improving energy efficiency in transportation, industrial, and agricultural sectors.

The council enacted a number of laws aimed at upgrading energy efficiency market, diversifying energy production and consumption basket, preparing the ground for making contracts on the development of gas fields, collecting associated petroleum gas (APG), and increasing crude oil refining capacity.