Car owners that make the switch to natural gas and dual fuel engines will have access to 325 more natgas filling stations in 2021, as the Oil Ministry looks to bring the total number of stations across the country to 550, Minister Tarek El Molla told Extra News (watch, runtime 9:08). The government had said it planned to set up 50 new filling stations in FY2020-21 as part of its plan to promote the natural gas transition plan, with an eye to convert 250k old cars to run on dual-fuel vehicles by the end of 2023. The government plans to build a network of natural gas filling stations each with a capacity of 1.3k cars per day El Molla had said in July, while former EGPC deputy chief Medhat Youssef told us he expected the state to roll out 100 stations in the program’s first wave.

The open question: How much of that network will be built by the private sector?

The transition plan will get a strong boost next month, as a local expo will be held in January to display natural gas-powered and dual-engine vehicles. Two things are hoped to be achieved at this expo: more automotive companies might join in and offer natgas engine cars or help assemble them, and it will be a chance for diesel and petrol car owners to take advantage of an EGP 1.2 bn incentives package to replace their cars.

Want more on the nat gas conversion scheme? We took a deep dive this summer into the plan in our weekly infrastructure vertical Hardhat: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3.