In a press release to Egypt Oil&Gas, the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla, announced that the ministry is working on improving operations along the national pipeline grid for oil and petroleum derivatives that extends 5720km in length. El Molla added that Egypt is also focusing its petroleum efforts on new refining projects in the Suez Area.

The nation’s pipeline improvement projects will cover replacement and renewing efforts to further expand the grid, with the aim of increasing pipeline capacity in order to meet local demands.

The minister’s comments came during a meeting with the General Assemblies of the Petroleum Pipelines Company, Suez Oil Processing Company, and Nasr Petroleum Company (NPC), to review their fiscal results for 2015/2016.

During the assembly, Petroleum Pipelines’ CEO, Mohamed Hafez, stated that the company improved existing pipelines via replacement and renewal projects like Mostorod/Tanta Pipeline, with the aim of enhancing oil transportation processes. Furthermore, the company started operations in Wadi Feiran/Petrobel butane pipeline which delivers more than 30,000t of butane to Petrobel’s storage facilities for distribution to governerates in Upper Egypt.

NPC’s CEO, Mohamed Ahmed Eliwa, said that the company’s work in refnning crude oil helped in meeting $769m in local demand of butane, naphtha, jet fuel, and mazut, with an additional $141m in naphtha exports.

Finally, Suez Oil Processing Company’s CEO, Reda Abd El Samad, announced that the firm supplied local demand of petroleum derivatives, fuel, diesel, mazut and butane estimated at $447m, in addition to producing propane, naphtha, sulfur and coal. The company plans to invest $94m in butane and asphalt production projects.