CAIRO — On June 30, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum signed a contract with the Suez Canal Authority for an $11 billion petrochemical project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Ain Sukhna. The project is set to become the largest petrochemical complex in the Middle East. This step comes in the framework of Egypt’s policy to expand its oil refining industry.

In November 2016, the Iraqi government signed a contract to supply Egypt with 12 million barrels of crude oil from Basra to be refined in Egypt. The contract was renewed in January.

Several local newspapers reported July 1 that Egypt is slated to receive the fourth shipment of Iraqi oil next week. It has been also reported that Iraq is not Cairo’s only source of crude oil, as the Ministry of Petroleum signed in December 2017 a contract with Saudi Aramco to supply Egypt with 500,000 barrels of Saudi crude oil to be transported to Egyptian refineries within six months. The deal was renewed June 19 for another six months and for the same number of barrels.

“The new complex aims to satisfy the domestic market’s petrochemical needs. The petrochemical industry includes gasoline, whose importation along with other fuel types such as diesel and mazut [low-quality heavy oil] costs the state about $800 million a month, which is $9.6 billion a year,” Petroleum Minister Tariq al-Mulla said in speech June 30 during the signing ceremony of the new petrochemical project.