Egypt’s role as regional energy hub gets a spotlight on CNBC: Opportunities for employment, business and even maintaining peace will all grow as a result of gas reserves in the Middle East, Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla told CNBC in an interview on Monday. Speaking at the BHGE Annual Meeting in Florence, Molla talked about his pride at having united a diverse cohort of players at the East Med Gas Forum, hosted by Egypt earlier this month — which included both Israeli and Palestinian representatives — and said he sees natural gas as both “the cause of the revenues to generate opportunities” and a “catalyst” for peace. He also stressed that international oil companies have strong appetite for Egypt at the moment. “We've got momentum and with the success of the first phase of Zohr, [the offshore supergiant natural gas field], we are more confident that we can do much bigger, much better and similar projects,” he said.