Alliance completes strategy of transforming Egypt into regional centre for energy-trading

Petroleum Ministry implements plan to expand the ports, establish petroleum storage and trading projects

A specialised alliance is set to complete a strategy to transform Egypt into a regional energy trading hub in November.
Sources at the Ministry of Petroleum said that Egypt's transformation into a regional centre for energy trading and trading not only covers a part of the needs of the local market but also serves to meet the needs of the regional market, adding value to the Egyptian economy and attracting foreign investment.
The sources noted that Egypt has many qualifications to enable it to play this role, including the important discoveries in the field of oil and gas, especially in the Mediterranean region.
The source said that the Suez Canal, the SUMED project (which is being developed to store more petroleum), along with the large refining capacity in the factories located in Suez, Alexandria, and Assiut are major infrastructure projects that serve the purpose.
This is an addition to the ports overlooking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, considering that they have the facilities to receive crude oil and petroleum products, supported by networks of pipelines to transport petroleum products and gas extended throughout Egypt.
The sources pointed out that Egypt has factories to liquefy gas on the Mediterranean Sea in Damietta and that Edco is capable of exporting, which opens new horizons to maximise the role of Egypt in the trade and storage of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas to achieve returns for the Egyptian economy and secure energy supplies for the local market and development projects.
The aims of the project include maximising Egypt's role in fuel supplying vessels of high economic feasibility within the framework of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) project.
The added that the Ministry of Petroleum implements integrated plans for the development of infrastructure to support the provision of the required components of the project, including the modernisation of refineries and expanding them through a budget of $8.2bn to enhance their added value and improve the efficiency of refining crude imported from abroad.
Moreover, there is a plan to establish projects to expand ports and their ability to receive petroleum products from abroad and the establishment of projects to store and trade petroleum products in Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea coast.
The sources said that the draft law on the liberalisation of the gas market and the establishment of an independent body to regulate it is a mechanism to attract investments and provide the opportunity for the private sector and the creation of competitive mechanisms in the gas market, which positively affect the Egyptian economy.