The shortage of 80-octane petrol (low grade or ‘oil 80') across Egypt is due to the refusal of foreign companies that own gas stations to sell oil 80, according to Mohamed Shoeeb, vide president of the public authority of petroleum. He added that the number of stations selling oil 80 is small compared to stations that prefer to sell other kinds of oil, despite the fact that the consumption of oil 80 surpasses all others, representing 55 percent of total oil consumption in Egypt. Shoeeb revealed that there are a number of violations in many oil stations where oil 80 is mixed with oil 90 (90-octane petrol, a higher grade). He said there are no crises in producing oil 80, particularly and Egypt is the only country which produces this kind of fuel. In much of the rest of the world, octane-87 is the lowest grade. In Europe, the lowest octane is 91. Shoeeb said production should cope with the market's movements, adding that most of the cars that entered Egypt in the last ten years should use high-octane petrol, such as 97(premium grade in the U.S.), which is more suitable for the engine of the car. Shoeeb said Egypt has no oil crises. He said the government pumped an additional 8-10 percent oil 80 during the last month. He said that oil 80 is provided in all of Egypt's governorates. Egypt produces about 2.7 million tons of oil 80 annually. Consumption has reached to 230,000 tons monthly.
