Just a few days after discussing cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the energy and petrochemicals sectors the Indian government is knocking on Egypt's doors.
India is looking to gain access to Egypt's oil production of 700,000 bbls/day and gas reserves of around 66 trillion cubic feet.
Egypt has for long been talking of developing an oil and gas as well as petrochemical industry. And Indian companies such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Gail, ONGC and Reliance have been actively scouting for opportunities.
Gail had evaluated investment in a polyethylene (PE) facility in the country but pulled out due to lack of interest from its Egyptian partner.
But Egypt is said to be on the shortlist of countries prepared by Gail and Reliance for possible petrochemical investments. And IOC is carrying out a feasibility study on a refinery investment in the country. The study is due to be completed in the second half of 2010.
Egypt has a three phase masterplan that was launched in 2002 by state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC). The plan envisages more than 20 greenfield facilities by 2022. This would include 50 production units with a total capacity of around 15m tonnes/year of intermediates and final products.
The plan includes olefins and polyolefins complexes, as well as plants to produce aromatics and methanol. A methanol-to-olefins facility is part of Egypt's vision with downstream polyolefins facilities.