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Egypt to present $10 bn worth of petroleum projects at March Conference: ministry The government hopes to attract investments in an LPG line between the upper Egypt towns of Sohag and Assiut to ensure its own supply of petroleum
Egypt will present 12 petroleum, petrochemicals and minerals projects worth $10 billion at the economic development conference expected this month, the ministry of petroleum announced on Tuesday. These projects aim at raising Egypt's local production of petroleum products and industrial chemicals to cover the country's needs, the ministry statement shows. The conference, which will be held in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, aims to attract investments after four years of political turmoil which has taken a heavy toll on the economy. Investment banks will present seven of these projects worth $5 billion. The two main projects are the Hydrocracking complex project for the Assiut Oil Refinery Company at a cost of $2.8 billion and the phosphate fertilizers and phosphoric acid project at a cost of $1.2 billion. Investment banks will also propose an oils complex project at a cost of $430 million to produce 375,500 tons of petroleum products annually; as well as another two projects to produce 150,000 tonnes annually of Bio Ethanol using rice straw ($229 million cost) and molasses ($132 million cost). With the aim of connecting upper Egypt to ensure its supply of its petroleum needs, the government hopes to attract investments in an LPG line connecting Sohag to Assiut (100 km long) and a petroleum line connecting Aswan to Sohag (500 km long) at a cost of $35 million and $201 million respectively. Meanwhile, the ministry of petroleum will present another five proposals for a total investment of $5 billion. At the forefront of these are the propylene production at a cost of $2.5 billion to produce 250,000 tonnes annually and the aromatics and fertilizers complex at a cost of $2.13 billion to produce 1.4 million tons of industrial chemicals and fertilizers annually. The ministry will also propose a project to produce the industrial chemical formaldehyde at a cost of $100 million to produce 70,000 tonnes annually. It will also present another project to establish a new desalination unit in Amreya Oil Refinery Company which aims to produces 4.59 million tonnes of petroleum products annually at a cost of $250 million. The last of the government projects will be a glass sand processing plant aiming to produce 250,000 tons annually at a cost of $35 million. The oil sector is the most attractive for foreign investments in Egypt, accounting for three quarters of all FDIs to the country in the last fiscal year 2013/14, central bank data shows. But the tumultuous years following the Egyptian uprising in 2011 accumulated arrears to foreign oil companies hampering investments in the sector. The government has repaid nearly $5 billion in November and December, leaving the debt at $3.1 billion. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/124419.aspx
