The Egyptian oil and gas sector imports fuel cargoes for over $400 million per month to cover local market’s demands, sources at the Ministry of Petroleum told Amwal Al Ghad.

The value of imported fuel cargoes decreased upon increasing crude oil and condensates production in 2018 and directing it to refineries in the time rehabilitation programs were being conducted in refineries.

Benzene, diesel and butane are the most imported fuels due to local consumption, the sources said, adding that starting 2019 Egypt will decrease imported fuel as a number of refining units and the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) start operations.

The petroleum sector targets decreasing fuel imports in order to ease the burden on the country’s budget, and to achieve petroleum products’ self-sufficiency by the support of targeted discoveries in the Gulf of Suez and Mediterranean Sea.