Egypt will build its largest-ever oil refinery with Chinese investment by virtue of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides. Egypt’s oil ministry says the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation has signed the memorandum of understanding with two Chinese companies to build a $2 billion refinery that would be the largest such plant in the Arab nation and Africa. The deal was signed in Beijing.
The capacity of the refinery will annually amount to 15 million tons and will be doubled in a second stage.
The signing ceremony was attended by Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi who was on a visit to China and Egypt's Ambassador to China Ahmed Rezq.
Fahmi said that the Chinese side briefed him about the progress of manufacturing a maritime oil rig, undertaken by a Chinese company and will be added to the Egyptian oil potentials for future maritime oil exploration.
The total investment cost of the driller is $ 270 million, he said, adding that he focused during his talks with the Chinese side on four points including commitment to schedule, training Egyptian cadres, commitment to quality and boosting Egyptian competitiveness.
Fahmi said that his visit to China is the third of its kind and is meant to give a push to the march of joint cooperation in the gas and oil spheres.
Under the terms of the deal, China’s Rongsheng Holding Group and China National Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd., would retain ownership of the plant for 25 years.
Global Arab Network