The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources seeks to invest $1.6b in a project that aims to expand the refining facilities of the Middle East Oil Refinery (Midor) in order to meet the domestic demand of petroleum products and reduce the imports bill that requires foreign currency, reports Egypt Oil&Gas.

The expansions are set to be completed during the first quarter of 2019. It is forecast that this project will increase the refining capacity to produce 160,000b/d from the current 100,000b/d.

The expansions are also expected to lead to an annual liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production of 280,000 tons, compared to the current volume 135,000 tons, marking a 110% increase, and also an annual gasoline production rise of 1.6m tons, compared to the current production volume of 1m tons, an increase of 60%.

The Ministry also aims to increase the annual factory production of diesel fuel to 2.8m tons instead of 2m tons, an increase of 33% and the annual production of jet fuel to 2.2m tons, compared to the current production volume of 900,000 tons, targeting a surging of 145%.

In January 2016, Ahram Online reported that Midor was borrowing $1.2b from Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas, the loan was guaranteed by the Italian Central Bank and the Italian Export Development Authority.