Production, consumption of diesel drop in December 2017

CAIRO – 27 February 2018: Consumption of diesel declined in December 2017 by around 57,000 tons, compared to the same month a year earlier, a source at the petroleum sector said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, diesel production dropped in the same period by around 12,000 tons, he added.

The source said that consumption of diesel in December 2017 stood at 1.22 million tons, compared to 1.27 million tons in December 2016.

As part of Egypt’s reform program, the government had slashed fuel subsidies three times since 2014. The last increase was in June 2017, when the government hiked fuel prices by up to 50 percent.

The price of 92-octane gasoline had increased to LE 5, from LE3.5 pounds per liter, Diesel and 80-octane, the most commonly used fuel, rose to LE 3.65 pounds per liter from LE 2.35, while cooking gas cylinders’ prices increased to LE 30, from LE 15 per cylinder.

Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry aims to increase its annual production of gasoline, diesel, butane gas and jet fuel by 11.6 million tons in the next four years, at an investment of $8.3 billion, boosting total production to around 28.5 million tons, up from the current 16.9 million tons.

Egypt targets producing 3.113 million tons of gasoline, 6.603 million tons of diesels, 481,000 tons of butane gas and some 1.438 million tons of jet fuel over the next four years.