CAIRO: Egypt has stepped up its cooperation efforts with China in the petrochemicals and refining fields, the Ministry of Petroleum announced. Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy held talks with a Chinese delegation this week, comprising of representatives from a group of specialist Chinese companies in petrochemicals and refining activities, headed by vice chairman of the China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC). "The talks included means to reinforce cooperation between Egypt and China, a relationship that until now has achieved great success and lured many Chinese investments in Egypt, Fahmy said. The extended talks included a study of establishing a joint refinery through the Build Lease Operate Transfer (BLOT) system, using international technologies for producing high quality petroleum products. The refinery would have an annual capacity of 5 million tons and would produce environmentally-friendly products. The two countries also agreed to study the establishment of a project to produce Dimethyl Ether (DME), which is produced from natural gas and is used mixed with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to increase its productivity. This project will lead to the reduction of LPG imports to Egypt, along with increasing local production to meet the local market's growing demand. "Cooperation in drilling activity is considered one of the most important and effective joint cooperation fields between the two countries, Fahmy said. Egyptian-Chinese drilling projects include the Onshore Drilling Rigs production plant, which is the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East, is due to start production during this year. One of China's largest investments in the petroleum sector was through Sino-Tharwa Company, which operates in the field of drilling and maintenance of all types of crude oil and natural gas wells in Egypt, Africa and the Middle East. "Sino-Tharwa has proved a great success since its establishment, and it gives us faith in Egyptian-Chinese joint projects, the minister's office told Daily News Egypt. It was also agreed to increase cooperation in the fields of engineering designs, as well as carrying out petroleum projects in cooperation with Enppi and Petrojet companies to implement petroleum projects in Egypt and abroad.
