The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has started negotiations with five local and Arab banks to obtain EGP 4bn in loans to purchase and supply petroleum products. Sources from the EGPC told Daily News Egypt that the banks are Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK), and Emirates National Bank of Dubai. The loans are expected to be signed before the end of July. Since 2015, the petroleum sector has received loans worth more than EGP 50bn, most notably a EGP 20bn loan granted by the NBE and Banque Misr, to be paid over a period of seven years. Furthermore, four banks, including the NBE, Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank (CIB), and Banque du Caire, provided $550m to the EGPC. Akef Al-Maghraby, deputy chairperson of Banque Misr, explained that the bank cooperated with the three other banks to pay the petroleum sector's dues to foreign partners. Last week, a banking alliance—the NBE, Banque Misr, and CIB—and the EGPC signed an agreement worth $750m to finance the corporation's purchases of crude oil and gas from foreign partners. The loan repayment period is up to seven years, with the NBE, Banque Misr, and CIB serving as main loan manager, underwriter, and finance marketer, while CIB is the financing agent. Egypt owed foreign oil companies operating in the country $2.4bn at the end of June 2017, according to the latest government statement. Italy's Eni, Britain's BP, as well as Shell and Edison, have dominated oil and gas exploration and production activities in Egypt in recent years.
