An official from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) stated to Egypt Oil&Gas that Egypt is in talks with several countries to import a total of 2.3m tons of benzene during 2017 in order to cover local market demands across the governorates. The official added that Egypt is having these negotiations with UAE, Libya, and Iraq.

The official source further explained that importing the 2.3m tons will help in filling the gap between local production and consumption in filling stations until the refineries’ development projects are completed, aiming to add 8m tons of petroleum products, which represents 60% of the current Egyptian production.

EGPC’s official added that Egypt will witness long negotiations in the upcoming period in order to prevent any crisis in the energy markets.

In related news, Egypt was negotiating with the UAE to import petroleum derivatives such as benzene, diesel, and butane in order to cover the 2017 local market’s demands. Egypt sought to import 700,000 tons of benzene and diesel per months and purchase 500,000 tons of butane on a monthly basis.