Petroleum Ministry Requests US$2 billion to Import Fuel for Power Plants

The Ministry of Petroleum submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, asking for US$2 billion to import fuel oil, diesel fuel, and gas to run power plants during the next summer.

A Petroleum Ministry official said the ministry requested $1 billion to import 12 shipments of liquefied gas, equal to two million cubic meters, needed to run power plants during the three months of summer.

The total amount needed to run power plants in the next summer is equal to 125 million meters per day.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum is currently negotiating on six additional shipments of liquefied gas with Algeria's Sonatrach Company. The Cabinet agreed with two French and Russian companies to provide Egypt with other 12 shipments of gas for power plants.

Egypt will continue to import gas for the next four years, as it is currently facing shortage in gas estimated at 750 million cubic feet per day, needed to run power stations and factories.

The official said upon anonymity that the Egyptian Petroleum Authority also needs about $1 billion to import fuel oil and diesel fuel required to run power plants in summer.

The subsidies of petroleum products in the fiscal year 2012-2013 reached about LE128 billion. Egypt is expected to need LE140 billion as petroleum products' subsidies by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends in next June.

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