Midor signs $1.2 loan agreement to upgrade refinary

CAIRO – 1 November 2018: Middle East Oil Refinery Company (Midor) signed a loan agreement worth $1.2 billion with three international banks, Ministry of Petroleum said October 31.   The consortium, which consists of Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Italy’s CDP, has made the agreement with the aim of financing the expansion projects for Midor’s finery; this will increase the capacity by some 60% and will cost $2.3 billion.   In remarks after the signing of the agreement, Minister of Petroleum, Tarek el-Molla, said, “The expansion of the Midor refinery comes within the framework of the Ministry of Petroleum's strategy to develop and increase the capacities of refineries and work to increase the quantities of petroleum products.”   Molla also said that the expansion project will raise the produced quantities of the refinery to 7.6 million tons from the current 4.6 million tons, and will produce high quality products according to the international standards, which contributes to the provision of dollar liquidity through exporting the international standard (Euro-5) products.   The project is set to act as a positive step towards achieving self-sufficiency of petroleum products in line with the state's national project to make Egypt a regional center for trading oil and gas.   He pointed out that ENPI and Petrojet companies will receive 50% of the components for this project in the framework of maximizing the local component in the major oil projects in order to maximize the capabilities and capacities of Egyptian oil companies.   The financial advisors of the project are the National Bank of Egypt and National Bank of Abu Dhabi.   Commenting on the signing, Italian Ambassador to Egypt Giampaolo Cantini said that this agreement is one of the most important projects developing the capacity of Egyptian refining and supporting the presence of Italian companies and their participation in contributing to the development of the great potential possessed by Egypt in the oil and gas sector.   Cantini added that the Italian companies aim to play a vital role in the project to transform Egypt into a regional center for the trade and circulation of oil and gas, which has a positive impact on securing the energy supplies of the European Union and supports the possibilities of joint cooperation between the two countries.