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Egypt said in a statement on Wednesday (April 28, 2021) that it had signed an agreement to invest $7.5 billion in building an integrated petrochemical complex in Ain Sokhna, located in the Gulf of Suez. On April 28, 2021, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the signing ceremony held today to sign the plan for the Ain Sokhna complex. Accompanying him to the signing ceremony were Zaki, head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, and Mora, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Mohamed Ali Abadi, General Manager of Red Sea Oil Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Abdul Nasir Rafee from the Suez Canal Economic Zone signed the agreement. The project includes refineries, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester plants, covering an area of about 3.56 million square meters; upon completion, it will create employment for 15,000 people. Ain Sokhna’s industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone covers an area of over 20 square kilometers. A report by Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP) shows that in 2020, Egypt led in investments in the petrochemical sector, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia. Apicorp’s data also shows that Egypt plans to invest around $35 billion in petrochemical projects over the next five years. Earlier this year, Egypt signed 9 oil and gas exploration agreements with local and international energy companies, worth a total of around $1 billion, for exploring for oil and gas in the eastern and western Mediterranean as well as the Red Sea. Source: Refining and Petrochemical News