An official source at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) said that the Egyptian refineries are operating at only 70% capacity due to shortages in inputs and a decrease in the efficiency of the refineries, Al Mal reported.

He also added that the refineries currently produce around 26.5m tons per year as opposed to its overall capacity of 38m tons.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is currently implementing an integrated plan to develop and raise the efficiency of the existing refineries to cover 90% of the national consumption of petroleum products by adding around 8m tons. The ministry’s plan includes nine refining and manufacturing projects in Mostorod, Alexandria, Suez, and Assiut.

The Egyptian market consumes 75 m tons of petroleum products annually, while the petroleum sector produces about 50% of the national consumption out of which 85% of gasoline and 65% of diesel.