Qalaa Holding Company has announced plans to boost its indirect ownership of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

A regulatory filing revealed that the company is in talks with financial consultants to study loan alternatives for extending its role in the ERC.

One option being explored is to purchase more shares in Orient Investment Properties, a Qalaa subsidiary that holds shares in the ERC.

In February 2018 ERC announced that its new $3.6 billion processing plant would start operation in six months, according to Amwal Al Ghad.

The value of total loans financing the plant’s project has reached $2.6 billion, Chairman Ahmed Heikal, pointed out during the third “Egypt Investment Forum.”

Once the plant starts operations, it will decrease the country’s need for diesel and imported gasoline by around 50% and 20% respectively. The plant will also cover 14% of Egypt’s annual liquid oil products’ demands, with production capacity reaching 4.2 million tons of liquid products in addition to 600,000 tons of sulfur and coke per annum.