Egypt's Assiut Petroleum Refining Co. (ASORC) signed Monday a US$250 million contract with French company Axens. The contract will go for the establishment of a new complex for the production of high octane gasoline (CCR) for the Assiut Petroleum Refining Co. (ASORC). Following the signing of the contract, Egypt's Oil Minister Sherif Ismail explained that the project is part of the ministry's plan to upgrade the efficiency of refining at existing plants and build new units to increase production capacity for petroleum products to meet local market needs. He added that the project aims to increase domestic production of gasoline to reduce imports and make other types of fuel available, such as butane and hydrogen. These would also maximizing the use of infrastructure and facilities at the Assiut refinery and create an integrated set of petroleum industries, in addition to reducing the transportation of petroleum products from Lower to Upper Egypt's governorates. Mohamed Allam, President of ASORC, and Jean Sentenac, chairman and CEO of Axens, signed the contract. Allam explained that the planned capacity of the project is 660 thousand tons per year for the production of 500 thousand tons per year of high-octane gasoline and 7 thousand tons of butane per year with $250 million worth of investments.
