MOSCOW (MRC) -- Egypt plans to invest USD14.5bn in developing its refining and petrochemicals sectors over the next five years, said Thepeninsulaqatar.
It is also considering floating stakes in some state-owned oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange. Sherif Ismail said in an interview that Egypt was trying to boost its output of refined oil products by 5-10% each year, hoping to reduce its dependence on costly imports. "Total investments that will be implemented over the next five years will be around USD14.5bn and include USD12.5bn in the refining sector and USD1.9 billion in the ETHYDCO project," Ismail said, referring to a new complex that will produce ethylene and other petrochemicals.
Most of the planned investments will be implemented by state-owned companies and be self-financed or part-financed by local banks, he said. The oil ministry was also working with local investment banks to look at the potential for offering stakes in state oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange as part of an effort to overhaul them and improve their finances, Ismail said.
He declined to give the names of the companies or of the banks involved but said the ministry could begin with about five companies, with the first being listed in 2015.
Among the largest projects in progress is ETHYDCO, which is set to produce 460,000 tonnes a year of ethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polyethylene when it comes online at the end of 2015.
The complex in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast will be the largest producer of ethylene and polyethylene in Egypt and will save the country more than USD500m a year that it currently spends on imports.
Ethylene and polyethylene are used in the production of plastics and chemicals.
Egypt is also expanding the Midor refinery, boosting its capacity from 100,000 bpd to 160.