Egypt injects $14 billion investment into refinery, petrochemicals sectors
Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla stated that the petroleum sector is currently implementing an integrated programme to develop and upgrade the refinery and petrochemicals system in Egypt, with up to $14 billion in investments.
The petroleum ministry plans to boost operation efficiency at the existing refineries, to add new production units, and to establish new petrochemical projects, El-Molla added in a statement.
This plan aims at providing sustainable oil and petrochemical products to the local market and the economic sectors as well as reducing the state’s import bill and achieving the optimum use of the Egyptian resources.
This came on the sidelines of the Supreme Committee for Petroleum Projects meeting headed by the petroleum minister to showcase the progress of ongoing refinery and petrochemical projects.
During the meeting, the chairman of Middle East Oil Refinery (Midor) displayed the progress at the Midor refinery expansion project, which targets increasing the refinery capacity by 60,000 barrels per day, with around $2.4 billion in investment.
Midor’s chairman pointed out that the first phase of this project would be completed over the coming period.
Moreover, the chairman of Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemicals Company presented the latest developments regarding the establishment of high-quality petrochemicals production units at a cost of $7.5 billion, in order to meet the needs of local market and to export the surplus.
For his part, the chairman of Assiut National Oil Processing Company (ANOPC) presented the recent development on the company’s project for turning low-value fuel oil (mazut) with feed capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum into high-quality product, particularly diesel, with around $2.9 billion in investment.
Moreover, the meeting witnessed the review on construction works at the new asphalt production unit in Suez, with a production capacity of up to 1,200 tonnes a day and around $64 million in investment.
Participants of the meeting have also discussed the development on the $1.4 billion charring complex project located in Suez, which aims at maximizing the added value of fuel oil and turning it into high-quality products, mainly to meet the local market’s demand for the Euro 5 diesel.