The Mostorod refinery is projected to start operations by the end of 2018, said Mohamed Saad, Managing Director of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), according to Amwal Al Ghad.

The complex will have an annual production capacity at 80,000 tons of butane, 600,000 tons of jet fuel, 450,000 tons of coal, and 96,000 tons of sulfur.

The refinery will pump 850,000 tons of benzene and around 2.3 million tons of diesel each year, which will result in lower import bills, Saad added.

The company refines quantities of crude oil inside Cairo Oil Refining Company (CORC), Saad pointed out, adding that in case no oil was refined there, the ERC committed to paying $16 million annually to CORC until the full operation of the project. Saad added that CORC receives $3 for each barrel refined at their site.

Meanwhile, Mostorod will not refine any Iraqi crude oil imported by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Saad pointed out.