Production of Egypt's state-owned oil firm unprecedented: ministry

Cairo, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Production of Egypt's state-owned General Petroleum Company has unprecedentedly hit 57,000 barrels of oil per day, Petroleum Ministry said on Friday.

In a press statement, the ministry said the company's production has increased after the discovery of two new fields NES-5 and NES-7.

"Both fields produce 3,000 barrels of crude oil and 1.5 million cubic feet of gas per day," the statement read.

According to the statement, the company is currently implementing a strategy to produce 60,000 barrels of equivalent oil per day by the end of 2017.

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.