Egypt has inaugurated the Egyptian Refinery Project in Mostorod area in Greater Cairo, one of the largest oil refineries in the country and Africa, with an investment worth $4.3 billion.
The refinery will produce annually about 4.7 million tons of petroleum products including diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and others.
The project will contribute to a 30 percent increase in diesel production and a 15 percent surge in gasoline production.
It comes within the framework of the plan of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to increase production and reach self-sufficiency in petroleum products in 2023 through new advanced projects in oil refining and processing.
Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said that the ministry has been working since 2016 on achieving self-sufficiency of gasoline and diesel by 2023, during which the volume of imports reached about 10 million tons annually at a cost of $4.5 billion.
Speaking during the inauguration of the project, Molla announced that this year saw those rates falling to 3.5 million tons at a cost of $1.5 billion.
Many factors contribute to gradually achieving self-sufficiency during the next three years, such as operating new refineries, raising the efficiency of current refineries, rationalizing consumption and expanding the national project to convert cars to natural gas, according to Molla.
Molla pointed out that Mostorod now includes two refining complexes, namely the Cairo Refinery and the Egyptian Refinery, and has main distribution companies providing 22 percent of the country's refining capacity.
The Minister stressed the importance of developing Egypt’s infrastructure of Egypt in oil refining and processing, and the vital role this new project will play.
He reviewed the performance of the refineries during 2013/2014 and noted that they provided 13.5 million tons of products, while consumption amounted to about 21 million tons annually.
He explained that there was a need to locally increase production, adding that a strategy has been prepared to develop the refineries, increase their capacity and develop infrastructure.
The projects include expanding the refining capacity in Alexandria and the Egyptian Refinery Project, which added 3.4 million tons to main products.
The strategy seeks to transform Egypt into a regional hub for oil and gas trade, said the Minister, adding that three new projects including Assiut and Midor refinery expansions are being developed at a total investment cost of $5.7 billion.
Five of the most important refining projects between 2016 and 2023 have a total investment of $2.10 billion, and an annual production capacity of 2.9 million tons of petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline and jet fuel, the Minister said.
Molla noted that the new projects, including the Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemical Company project, will be implemented to cover the increase in consumption.
He also indicated that the infrastructure of transporting, storing, shipping and trading petroleum products are being developed with investments worth $3 billion, through projects to increase port capacity, product transportation lines, storage capacities, transport fleets and car supply stations.
