Egypt on its way to petroleum self-sufficiency by 2023

President AbdelFattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Sunday a new hydrocracking complex in Qaliobeya governorate north of the capital Cairo.

Hydrocracking is a process related to the refining industry, carried on heavy gas oils and residues to remove feed contaminants like Sulphur and metal to convert them to lighter oils.

The project is a step towards Egypt’s goal to achieve self-sufficiency of petroleum by 2023 by gradually lowering the rate of importing petroleum products.

The complex is worth $3.4 billion and was a joint public and private sector investment. The project was delayed after the 2011 uprising.

The head of Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) stated that the complex will crack mazut, that is a low value material to produce gasoline and diesel that have much higher value. The complex will be able to produce about 4.7 million tons of petroleum products annually.

Egypt managed in 4 years between 2016 and 2020 to lower its imports of oil by 6.5 million tons. The project is expected to drop this number even more, and save Egypt a minimum of $600 million annually.