Assiut Oil Refinery has addressed banks to obtain a loan worth EGP 750m to finance its structuring plan and increase production capacity, Al Mal News informed.

The project, according to feasibility study, aims at producing 603,000 tons of gasoline and 40,000 tons of butane a year with total investments of $250m.

The firm is reported to have requested financing from some local banking institutions including the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, CIB, Arab African International Bank, HSBC, and QNB.

The project is part of the oil ministry’s plan to develop and boost productivity of the refinery of Assiut Co. with at a total cost of $1.8b to meet steady increase in consumption in Upper Egypt and reduce land transport risks.

The ministry of oil signed two contracts with an Australian company and a French firm to develop Assiut refinery.