Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, had a tour at the Al-Hamra Petroleum Port in the new city of El Alamein on the Mediterranean, during which he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for a number of ongoing development and expansion projects in the port, which are being implemented by the Western Desert Petroleum Company (WEPCO).

WEPCO’s projects come within the framework of the strategy to develop and enhance the infrastructure in the sector.

During the tour and follow-up of the new projects, El Molla confirmed that the infrastructure of the petroleum sector in the new Alamein region, represented by the Al-Hamra Petroleum Port, is an important opportunity and advantage that the sector is working to maximize and exploit in an optimal manner and increase the achieved returns supported by the geographical location and human competencies.

El Molla laid the foundation stone for the new project that serves the new urban community in the new city of El Alamein and its industrial backyard to secure its fuel requirements. The petroleum products storage and shipment area, with a capacity of about 400,000 tons, will also help reduce the movement of vehicles transporting petroleum products on the coastal road.

The minister also inspected the ongoing works to implement the expansion project and increase the storage capacity of Al-Hamra port by expanding the northern region of the port to maximize the circulation and reception of crude oil.

El Molla further inaugurated a number of development, modernization and efficiency projects in Al-Hamra port facilities, including a solar power plant project with a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

The minister also inaugurated the new oil charging pump station in Al-Hamra Port to double the capacity and rates of crude shipping from the port facilities to tankers to reach one million barrels per day and reduce the shipping time, after adding three lifting pumps with a capacity of 355 kilowatts and three main pumps with a capacity of 1.1 megawatts.

Moreover, El Molla gave the signal to operate the new warehouse for storing crude oil, with a capacity of 630,000 barrels, bringing the current storage capacity of the port to 2.8 million barrels.

The minister inaugurated a new project to develop and modernize the security and safety system at Al-Hamra port facilities within the framework of the strategy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, which aims to maximize security and safety at work sites and to confront emergencies.