Egypt Coordinates with Aramco to Manufacture ‘Static Equipment’

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla inspects locally manufactured equipment for the petroleum sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla inspects locally manufactured equipment for the petroleum sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt Coordinates with Aramco to Manufacture ‘Static Equipment’

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla inspects locally manufactured equipment for the petroleum sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla inspects locally manufactured equipment for the petroleum sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum has said Petrojet is coordinating with Saudi Aramco to establish workshops for manufacturing static equipment in the oil sector.

The ministry explained on Monday in a press statement, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, that the new workshops are scheduled to be established in King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), as approved by Aramco.

It added that they are coordinating with Saudi Luberef regarding cooperation in the manufacture of static equipment.

The central workshops have already been approved and contracts have been made to manufacture several static equipment.

The ministry will also coordinate with the Algerian company Sonatrach regarding cooperation in manufacturing static equipment in Algeria.

Petrojet has established five workshops in Egypt; two are being built in el-Alamein and Tebbin. The company also has an affiliated manufacturing workshop in Iraq.

According to Petrojet President Waleed Lotfy, the workshops' most important specialized equipment are heat exchangers, distillation towers, pressure vessels, heat treatment furnaces, air coolers, and repair and maintenance of obsolete static equipment.

Lotfy pointed out that this equipment helped implement the Zohr gas field development project, the West Delta gas field development, the nitrogen fertilizer complex project in Ain Sokhna, and the new asphalt complex at the Suez Petroleum Manufacturing Plant.

He explained that equipment manufacturing work developed from 6.8 tons in 2021 to 12 tons in 2023, noting that metal structure manufacturing work increased in the same period from 23 tons to 40 tons.

Workshops are valued at $160,000 compared to $105,000 in 2021, while the total manufacturing work carried out in the central workshops between 2021 and 2023 amounted to $594 million, including integrated manufacturing work by Porsche valued at $297 million.

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla stressed that localizing and increasing the local manufacturing base of petroleum equipment and supplies necessary for oil and gas activities are among the main pillars for completing the strategic and vital projects.

The Minister inspected the work progress in the central workshops for manufacturing static equipment in el-Katameya, affiliated with Petrojet, followed up, and reviewed the results of developing the workshops to maximize the local product and reduce imports from abroad.



Sudan Government Rejects UN-backed Famine Declaration

FILE PHOTO: A WFP worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Sudan, November 12, 2024. WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A WFP worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Sudan, November 12, 2024. WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/Handout via REUTERS
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Sudan Government Rejects UN-backed Famine Declaration

FILE PHOTO: A WFP worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Sudan, November 12, 2024. WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A WFP worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Sudan, November 12, 2024. WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/Handout via REUTERS

The Sudanese government rejected on Sunday a report backed by the United Nations which determined that famine had spread to five areas of the war-torn country.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review, which UN agencies use, said last week that the war between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces had created famine conditions for 638,000 people, with a further 8.1 million on the brink of mass starvation.

The army-aligned government "categorically rejects the IPC's description of the situation in Sudan as a famine", the foreign ministry said in a statement, AFP reported.

The statement called the report "essentially speculative" and accused the IPC of procedural and transparency failings.

They said the team did not have access to updated field data and had not consulted with the government's technical team on the final version before publication.

The Sudanese government, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been based in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan since the capital Khartoum became a warzone in April 2023.

It has repeatedly been accused of stonewalling international efforts to assess the food security situation in the war-torn country.

The authorities have also been accused of creating bureaucratic hurdles to humanitarian work and blocking visas for foreign teams.

The International Rescue Committee said the army was "leveraging its status as the internationally recognised government (and blocking) the UN and other agencies from reaching RSF-controlled areas".

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.

The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted over 12 million people, including millions who face dire food insecurity in army-controlled areas.

Across the country, more than 24.6 million people -- around half the population -- face high levels of acute food insecurity.