Qatar Petroleum announced the successful start-up of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) Refinery project located in Mostorod, north of the Egyptian capital Cairo. Qatar Petroleum owns 38.1% of the Arabian Refinery Company, which in turn owns 66.6% of ERC.

All of the ERC Refinery units are now successfully operating, and are expected to ramp up to full production before the end of the first quarter of 2020, which will reduce Egypt’s dependence on imported petroleum products. The project will also create job opportunities for the local workforce and will provide a boost to the support services sector in this important region of Egypt.

The successful startup of the ERC refinery will further strengthen Qatar Petroleum’s international downstream footprint through this project, which is its largest investment in an Arab country as well as in Africa. The refinery project will support Egypt’s plans to increase the resilience of its domestic hydrocarbon supply chain and reduce dependence on imports.

Qatar Petroleum has participated in this project since 2012, which has cost USD4.4 billion, with the aim of processing around 4.7 million tons per annum of mainly atmospheric residue feed from the adjacent Cairo Oil Refinery Company. It will mainly produce Euro V refined products (such as diesel and jet fuel), which are intended for consumption primarily in Cairo and surrounding areas.