Egypt plans to reach self-sufficiency in petroleum products in 2023, the country's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla has announced.

 

"Work is being done to reach the goal of achieving full self-sufficiency in Egypt of gasoline and diesel by 2023. The work has been underway since 2016, when the volume of imports reached about 10 million tonnes annually at a cost of $4.5 billion," El Molla said at the Sunday opening ceremony of the Egyptian Refinery Project in the Mostorod area in Greater Cairo, as quoted by the petroleum ministry.

 

According to El Molla, import rates during 2020 were at 3.5 million tonnes per year, at a cost of $1.5 billion.

 

The minister pointed out that there are many factors contributing to gradually achieving self-sufficiency in petroleum products, such as operating new refineries and raising the efficiency of current facilities, rationalising consumption, expanding the national project to convert cars to work on natural gas, and improving the transport network.

 

Recently, Egypt’s state petrochemicals firm Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) announced plans to invest $15 bn on bulding new refinery, petchems complex in Egypt as part of expansion plans. The company is rapidly working on implementing a number of seven new projects to the national plan for the period of 2020-2035.