Petroleum Min. to upgrade efficiency, build new productive units

CAIRO - 23 September 2018: The current strategy of Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum aims at raising the efficiency and implementing new productive units to increase domestic production of petroleum products and lower imports, Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said.

Molla added that his ministry is working in parallel to maximize the value added and support the Egyptian economy.

The minister pointed out that a number of projects are currently being implemented to increase the production of benzene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through the establishment of new units or through hydrogen cracking projects to convert low-value Mazut into high-value products such as gasoline, diesel and gas.

This came at the general assembly meeting of Alexandria National Refine & Petrochemical Company (ANRPC) to approve the results of fiscal year 2017/2018.

Molla announced on Thursday that the coming period will witness intensive activity in the Red Sea area, in preparation for the first international bidding to explore oil and gas in this region.

The minister clarified that this step comes after the borders' demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia and the implementation of the geophysical data processing project in open areas in the Red Sea and southern Egypt.

In June, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ratified a border demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia, after being passed by the Parliament.

According to the agreement, the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir will be transferred back to the Saudi kingdom.

The intensification of research and exploration activities in Egypt currently reflect the confidence of investors in the attractive opportunities offered by Egypt through international bidding, which encourages the introduction of new auctions and attracts greater investments in various areas of Egypt, including oil in southern Egypt, Molla said.

As per ANRPC, chairman of the company Mohamed Ali Hassanein said that the new project for the production of high octane gasoline 92-95 has been successfully completed.

He noted that this project will double the company's production by 700,000 tons annually at an investment cost of $219 million.

It will contribute to increasing the company's share in the total domestic consumption of gasoline from 11 percent to 20.5 percent and increasing the production of LPG to 38,000 tons annually.