The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in Egypt has unveiled a series of fresh petrochemical and refining initiatives valued at a significant $9 billion, according to Arabian Business.
The Ministry is keen to set the wheels in motion for a cluster of new refining projects, collectively worth an estimated $7.5 billion. This series of initiatives includes the planned expansion of the Midor refinery in Alexandria. The refinery has successfully accomplished its preliminary and secondary phases and has commenced trial operations. Furthermore, the development agenda includes the diesel production complex project at ANOPC, located in Assiut.
In addition to these ventures, the Ministry’s plans extend to a variety of projects. These involve the coking complex and diesel production endeavours at Suez Petroleum Processing Company, the condensate distillation scheme at the Nasr Petroleum Company in Suez, and the air distillation initiative at Asyut’s oil refining hub.
The Egyptian Ministry has a commendable record, having triumphantly put into operation eight new projects within the oil refining sector, entailing investments totalling $5 billion. This forms part of an overarching strategy, introduced in 2016, which seeks to rejuvenate the petroleum refining industry and bolster its production capacity with a view to diminish imports.
The success of this strategy has proven instrumental in doubling Egypt’s domestic production of petrochemical materials. Production volumes have skyrocketed to exceed 4.3 million tonnes on an annual basis by the end of the 2021/2022 fiscal year. This contrasts sharply with the 2.1 million tonnes produced in 2015/2016, representing a successful outcome of the expansions implemented in 2016 and 2017, which saw investments amounting to approximately $4 billion.
Photo credit: Bayan Centre
