Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla has inaugurated the trial run for expansions to increase the refining capacity of the Nasr Petroleum Refinery in Suez to maximize high-value petroleum products with the new condensate distillation project.

During the tour, El Molla inspected the new project’s control room. The minister followed up on the trial operations of the condensate distillation project at an investment cost exceeding EGP 2 billion. It works to benefit from the production of condensates associated with gas and maximize their added value by converting them into high-value petroleum products such as diesel and naphtha. Both are necessary for the production of high-octane gasoline, the main raw material in some petrochemical production projects, in addition to kerosene and jet fuel.

“El Molla confirmed that this project, in addition to being one of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ initiatives, aims to maximize the production capacity of petroleum products locally and contribute to reducing imports.

The project is part of an ambitious strategy to develop the petroleum refining industry in Egypt. It was developed by the Ministry several years ago and is being implemented in the refining industry in Suez, Alexandria, and Mostorod.”

During his visit, El Molla listened to an explanation from Mohamed Abdullah, Chairman of Nasr Petroleum Company, about the development of the project work.

Abdullah explained that the project aimed to establish a new condensate distillation unit that would contribute to increasing the refining capacity of the company’s refinery by 1.2 million tons annually after operating the new unit, increasing the current capacity from 6.5 million tons to 7.7 million tons.

Additionally, Abdullah reviewed the progress the new gas recovery unit project being implemented to produce butane, which is being implemented by Petrojet, and the work progress rate has reached more than 93%.