An Official at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) told Egypt Oil&Gas that Egypt will need to increase the allocation for importing petroleum products from EGP 140b in 2017 to reach EGP 185b in 2018.

The source pointed out that EGPC successfully secured diesel, benzene and butane reserves enough to cover a 30-day demand, noting that the local consumption decreased by 17% compared to the recent six months.

Egypt is importing around 50% of demands from suppliers until the gap between production and consumption is filled. Egypt secures the remaining 50% from Egyptian refineries and through buying the production of IOCs working in Egypt without any financial difficulties.

However, the Egyptian government is still losing amounts of money because of the difference between the cost of securing petroleum products and the amounts collected from sales. The source explained that the oil and gas sector collects only EGP 60b annually.

The source noted that the fuel subsidies allocations decreased in the new budget due to the launching of fuel smart cards, which saved EGP 26b for the country.