Egypt brings online new crude pipeline at al-Hamra port

Egypt has brought online a new crude oil pipeline at the al-Hamra petroleum port on the Mediterranean Sea and set out other planned improvements to the port as part of the country’s efforts to become a regional energy hub.

The 8-kilometre Hamra-Shamandoura loading pipeline, which links the port with an additional offshore tanker loading facility, will increase the port’s shipping capacity to 1 million barrels of crude per day and will be a key part of the port’s capabilities, the cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday.

Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla also said crude storage at al-Hamra had increased, boosting capacity by 250,000 barrels to a total of 1.5 million barrels, to “securely receive quantities of crude oil ... from companies operating fields in [Egypt’s] Western Desert,” the statement said.

Two more storage tanks will be built at the port to increase its capacity to 2.8 million barrels, El Molla said.