Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, held a meeting with representatives of UK-based Shard Capital to follow up on the progress of the $7 billion Mediterranean Petrochemicals Complex project in New Alamein.

 The meeting comes on the heels of the framework agreement signed last February during the Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES 2025) between the Ministry, Shard Capital, and  Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qahtani Group.

The project, which will be Egypt’s first petrochemical complex, is projected to generate 20,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent roles. The facility, with an annual production capacity of around 3.1 million tons across eight specialized petrochemical products, will use crude oil as its main feedstock and feature a refinery and a high-conversion mixed steam cracker unit.

During the meeting, Badawi highlighted  the project’s importance in achieving the objectives of the Ministry’s Energy Efficiency Strategy 2022-2035 strategy, particularly the second pillar focused on  maximizing added value and boosting petrochemical production. 

The two sides discussed the developments in negotiations with Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions regarding the technology license used in the project, with an agreement expected to be signed this month.