A gas refinery in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia will supply Egypt with $250 million worth of cooking gas, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported at the weekend.
It is not clear if the gas is being given as aid or via a normal business transaction.
The Saudi embassy was unable to clarify the matter. Ahram Online contacted Egypt's ministries of petroleum and international co-operation but neither could give further details.
In March, the petroleum ministry increased the domestic production of butane gas to reach an annual 2 million tonnes, according to another Ahram report.
Egypt imports more than 50 per cent of its butane, mainly from Libya and Saudi Arabia. It is bottled locally then sold at subsidised cost to householders, hotels and restaurants.
The news is the latest sign of financial support to Egypt from Saudi Arabia.
On 22 May, Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said the OPEC country was in the process of finalising a $2.7-billion aid package for Egypt.
Egypt had earlier agreed to sell $500 million in treasury bonds to Saudi Arabia. The bonds are part of a package of financial support promised by Saudi Arabia in 2011.
In addition, Riyadh transferred $1 billion as an eight-year deposit at Egypt's central bank in May.
On Friday, the Kingdom's Ambassador to Egypt, Ahmed Kattan, said a joint Saudi-Egypt committee would be formed to arrange support for Egyptian small and medium enterprises.
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