Egypt’s aging refineries are in severe need of upgrading, with years of underinvestment meaning that despite the country producing almost 700,000 b/d of crude oil a year, it is still forced to import oil products. Currently there are seven refineries and two upgrading plants, mainly state-owned. Plans were in place at the start of the millennium to construct a refinery every five years, but as with many plans in Egypt, they fell through with the government failing to construct a single plant.
Refinery output of 507,000 b/d is significantly less than Egyptian state oil firm EGPC’s recent estimate of 732,550 b/d nameplate capacity. (CONTINUED - 1603 WORDS)
