CAIRO, June 6, 2018 (MENA) - Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Tarek el Mullah asserted that the Ministry's plan of action to develop the refining industry basically depends on accelerating the ongoing expansion projects at the refineries with investments worth more than eight billion dollars to come into operation according to schedule. In statements during a tour of a number of oil projects in Alexandria, Mullah said the development programme will have a positive impact on increasing the performance rates of the Egyptian oil refineries and maximising their economic benefits. The minister also said the new projects will upgrade the state refinery capabilities and provide production surplus to be used in refining the imported crude oil to produce high-quality oil products. During the tour, the minister inspected work on a new production unit for high-octane petrol in Alexandria National Refining and Petrochemicals Company (ANRPC) with investments worth $ 233 million. The newly established unit will contribute to meeting the needs of the local market, decrease imports and provide foreign currency. In a statement released on Wednesday, the minister pressed the need for all efforts to remove hardships facing any projects that will provide the local market with its needs of oil products. He also inspected a new naphtha improvement unit and a fluid catalytic cracking unit, which are about to be finalised as 97.3 percent of the total construction works have already been accomplished with the aim of doubling the production of 92-octane and 95-octane petrol with an annual production rate of 850,000 tons, in addition to producing butane gas and hydrogen. The project is being carried out by Egyptian companies including the Engineering Company for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) as a public contractor and Petrojet company. Construction is also under way in a unit for recycling industrial waste water at ANRPC with a production capacity of 1,200 cubic meters daily that will save wasted funds amounting to almost LE 25 million annually.
