Egyptian government delays sale of Wataniya stations

The Egyptian government has deferred the sale of select stations belonging to the National Company for the Sale and Distribution of Petroleum Products (Wataniya), an entity under the National Service Projects Organization. Initially scheduled for December, the sale has been postponed for several additional weeks.

Sources familiar with the matter informed DNE that procedural delays, particularly in opening the data room for prospective buyers and extending the deadline for final offers to the end of next week, have caused the postponement.

TAQA Arabia has submitted its bid, and a consortium comprising Shell and a Saudi investor has also presented an offer. Furthermore, both the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) are in the midst of the application process.

Following the submission of all proposals, the government plans to thoroughly review each application before selecting the winning bid, a process that may extend into the next year.

This delay is not unprecedented, as earlier this year, the government aimed to finalize a national sales deal by the first half of 2023. However, this timeline was revised in a document from the Information and Decision Support Center last August, which indicated October 2023 as the new deadline. Subsequently, a booklet addressing investor queries was slated for release in December.