Sameh Fahmi (born 14 August 1949) is an Egyptian engineer and politician who served as oil minister of Egypt for 12 years from 1999 to 2011.

Early life and education

Fahmi was born in Cairo on 14 August 1949. He has a twin brother, Hadi Fahmi. Sameh Fahmi holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, which he received from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in June 1973.

Career and activities

After graduation, Fahmi began to work at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). In May 1993, he became a board member and vice head of the EGPC in charge of planning and projects. In January 1997, he was appointed CEO and vice chairman of the Midor oil refining venture near Alexandria. In 1997, he began to serve as a board member of the Petroleum and Mining Chamber and of the Federation of Egyptian Industries. In August 1998, he was named a board member of the Alexandria Company for Petroleum Maintenance. He joined the National Democratic Party and became a member of its policy secretariat. Fahmi was appointed oil minister to the cabinet led by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Atef Ebeid Atef Muhammad Ebeid ( ar, عاطف محمد عبيد, ) (14 April 1932 – 12 September 2014) was an Egyptian politician who served in various capacities in the governments of Egypt. He was Prime Minister of Egypt from 1999 to 2004. Early life a ...

on 5 October 1999, replacing

Hamdi Al Banbi Hamdi Al Banbi ( ar, حمدي علي عبد الوهاب البنبي) (1935–2016) was an Egyptian engineer, businessman and politician who served as oil minister from 1991 to 1999. Early life and education Banbi was born on 7 August 1935. He ...

in the post. Fahmi was also named the chairman of the Egyptian Gas Holding Company. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Egyptian holding company for petrochemicals (ECHEM) in 2002. A 15-year natural gas deal was signed by him and Israeli national infrastructure minister

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer Binyamin "Fuad" Ben-Eliezer (, he, בנימין "פואד" בן אליעזר; 12 February 1936 – 28 August 2016) was an Iraqi-born Israeli politician and general. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1984 and 2014, and held several min ...

in July 2005. In December 2010, he was appointed president of the

Gas Exporting Countries Forum The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an intergovernmental organization currently comprising 19 Member Countries of the world's leading natural gas producers: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qata ...

. Although he retained his post in the cabinet led by

Ahmed Shafik Ahmed Mohamed Shafik ZakiAlso spelled: ''Shafiq''. ( ar, أحمد محمد شفيق زكى, ; born 25 November 1941) is an Egyptian politician and former presidential candidate. He was a senior commander in the Egyptian Air Force and later serv ...

in the January 2011 reshuffle, he resigned from office due to the complaints of oil workers on 16 February 2011. His term ended on 21 February 2011, and he was replaced by Mahmoud Latif Amer as oil minister.

Controversy

After leaving office, Fahmi was investigated because of alleged wrongdoing. In April 2011, it was announced by the public prosecutor that he would be tried in relation to the charges related to a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

deal with Israel. He was arrested and held in custody on 21 April 2011. Fahmi was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June 2012 due to his alleged role in selling and exporting natural gas to Israel in 2005 at lower prices than market rates. He along with other officials was also fined about $2.3 billion. In mid-March 2013, the

court of cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

decided that Fahmi should be retried over the Egypt-Israel gas case. On 28 March 2013, he was released from prison since he stayed in prison longer than the maximum 18 months allowed for pre-trial detention. Specifically, he was jailed for 23 months.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahmi, Sameh 20th-century Egyptian engineers 20th-century Egyptian politicians 21st-century Egyptian engineers 21st-century Egyptian politicians 1949 births Cairo University alumni Chemical engineers Egyptian politicians convicted of crimes Egyptian prisoners and detainees Living people National Democratic Party (Egypt) politicians Politicians from Cairo People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Petroleum ministers of Egypt Egyptian twins Engineers from Cairo