Egypt signs deal for biggest refinery project in country's south: Ministry

Ahram Online , Thursday 11 Oct 2018

Refinery
A file photo of flames rise from an oil refinery in Cairo (Photo:Al-Ahram)

Egypt has signed a deal with Italy's Technip to set up a $1.9 billion refinery complex that will be the largest in the country's south as part of the government efforts to meet local market demands, the petroleum ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The deal, signed between state-owned oil company ENPPI, the Assiut National Oil Processing Company (ANOPC) and Italy's Technip, is designed for the preliminary work to set up a mazut hydrocracking complex as part of a broader scheme to develop the main refinery in the southern governorate of Assiut.

The $1.9 billion project aims to meet Upper Egypt's needs for petroleum products, decrease importing and contribute to the government's scheme to develop the country's south, the ministry said in a statement.

The deal involves preliminary work for the construction of the project including major designs, purchase of equipment, negotiating with funding bodies and preparing the project's site, the ministry said.

The new complex will process 2.5 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil mazut annually from the Assiut refinery to produce 1.6 million tonnes of Euro-5 diesel, over 400,000 tonnes of naphtha for high-octane gasoline production, 101,000 tonnes of butane and 330,000 tonnes of sulfur.

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