Ahmad 
An Egyptian government official revealed that the value of fuel imports into the country increased to about $6.4 billion during the first half of 2024, compared to $6.1 billion in the same period last year.
The official explained in press statements that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation contracted to import shipments of petroleum materials worth $1.1 billion last June, compared to $922 million in the same month of 2023.
The official pointed out that the petroleum products bill from January to June exceeded $3.6 billion, while the rest of the value was allocated to coal, crude oil and other petroleum sector imports.
The official said that the reason for the increase in the import bill in the first half of this year is the increase in the cost of shipping and transporting petroleum products.
He added that the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum manages between 20% and 25% of the country’s fuel needs through direct external contracts, including immediate, medium-term and annual contracts, as Egypt has an annual contract with Iraq to import quantities of crude oil, and it also imports shipments from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Kuwait. .
The official noted that the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum obtains some payment facilities for later periods, and imports the majority of monthly petroleum products from Arab markets that enjoy oil and fuel production surpluses.
The official confirmed that the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum has begun a plan to achieve self-sufficiency in locally produced fuel, through developing production fields and increasing local production, as well as increasing its imports of crude oil from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq and refining it in local refineries.
The official explained that Egypt produces about 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which equates to about 75% of the country’s fuel consumption, while foreign contracts meet the rest of the consumption throughout the year.
Egypt annually consumes about 12 million tons of diesel and 6.7 million tons of gasoline, which means that any increase in local oil production would reduce the bill for importing petroleum products.
In this context, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced in a press conference last June the approval to allocate $1.18 billion to provide the petroleum products needed for power stations during the summer period.
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