Archive for Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab

British Gas announces new finding in Red Sea

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July 20th, 2012

The Petroleum Ministry said that the British Gas Company made a commercial gas finding in the Red Sea that has the capacity to pump 40 million cubic feet per day.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the new finding’s limited output capacity may increase with the digging of new wells.

The new finding will enter the production phase in three months, Ghorab said, adding that El Borolos Gas Company, a joint operation between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, PG Egypt and Petronas, will take on the works in the deep waters of the West Delta concession.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Central Bank demands restructuring of energy subsidies

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May 29th, 2012

The deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt has called for the restructuring of energy subsidies, which are a LE100 million annual burden on the state budget.

In a meeting with the Shura Council’s economic and financial committee on Monday, Governor Nedal al-Qassem said restoring security would attract foreign investments and hence provide essential resources to plug the budget deficit.

The Cabinet also demanded that Parliament clarify its stance on reducing petroleum subsidies in the 2012-13 state budget, Al-Masry Al-Youm has learned. Should the subsidies remain as is, the budget is expected to exceed LE130 billion. The final decision will be left to the next president.

A source at the Petroleum Ministry close to the issue said there are several choices for its resolution. He said the current subsidy policy could be reduced, or a coupon-system of distributing goods could be introduced.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab said the Cabinet discussed different methods of reducing the subsidy allotment last week, seeking to find a new arrangement that could increase funding for education, health and social justice.

Ghorab added that the head of the General Petroleum Authority had submitted two proposals to the Cabinet on methods of reducing subsidies. He said Parliament and the new president would have the final say on the issue.

General Petroleum Authority head Hany Dahy said detailed surveys have been conducted over how to reduce subsidies by 50 percent in three years. However, he said, this would require a public referendum before being approved.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Presidential election causes slump in fuel demand

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May 23rd, 2012

Diesel and gas demand plunged due to the decrease in the daily activity of Egyptians as half of civil servants were given Wednesday off to vote in the presidential election, the General Petroleum Authority (GPA) said.

GPA Vice President Amr Mostafa told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the demand for diesel and gas went down unexpectedly because most citizens got a day or half a day off.

Mostafa added that the supply of diesel fuel has stabilized at 38,000 tons and gasoline at 14,000 tons.

Mostafa said that the GPA, in cooperation with the ministries of interior, defense, supply and internal trade have devised a plan to secure the distribution of petroleum products, tightening control on distribution outlets, and increasing supply on weekends to avoid traffic jams in front of gas stations and clashes among drivers.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that diesel supply has not been reduced despite the high demand by farmers in the peak harvest season, adding that he is monitoring the situation with the governors on a daily basis to avoid a crisis during the election.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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MP demands fact-finding committee for Suez petroleum company fire

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April 19th, 2012

The head of the Parliament Human Rights Committee on Thursday called for the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the cause of a fire at a state-owned petroleum company in Suez that raged for four days earlier this week.

In a press release on Thursday, MP Mohamed Anwar Sadat said the accident would not pass by without question, noting that fire extinguishers at the factory were not working. He also mentioned the absence of safeguards or security cameras.

He also added that frequent accidents like this and the Port Said football violence indicate a scheme targeting vital places in the Suez Canal zone.

Several Egyptian governorates were suffering from a shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel on Wednesday in the aftermath of the fire. Dozens of taxi drivers in Minya Governorate blocked railroad tracks there for the second consecutive day in protest of the shortage.

Vehicles lined up in front of gas stations in Daqahlia, Sharqiya, Suez and Port Said governorates Thursday, and owners of small businesses in 6th of October City warned against a continuation of the crisis and its potential effect on Egypt’s industrial sector.

The Supply and Domestic Trade Ministry has been notified by the Petroleum Ministry about the fuel shortage. However, government sources said the supply ministry would not be able to resolve the shortage over the next few months as it only plays a monitoring role.

A meeting between officials of the two ministries and the central operations department of the military is expected to take place soon regarding the crisis.

On Wednesday, members of the Shura Council accused the government of negligence and said it was responsible for the Nasr Petroleum Company fire. They demanded that the cabinet resign.

However, Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab has said the fire has not affected the amount of diesel fuel on the market.

This article is an edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Suez oil blaze under control, preliminary losses estimated at millions

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April 15th, 2012

A huge fire that erupted Saturday at an oil refinery in Suez has been controlled, said Lieutenant Captain Khaled Bahgat, who heads emergency services in the governorate.

Bahgat said four officers and six soldiers suffered from difficulty breathing while extinguishing the fires.

The blaze burned at the Nasr Petroleum Company refinery for 18 hours and left one dead and 24 injured, Suez Governor Mohamed Hashem said, adding that each worker will receive LE50,000 in compensation.

An official at the company told Al-Masry Al-Youm that initial losses are estimated at nearly LE12 million.

Suez security chief Adel Refaat on Sunday said prosecution services have ordered the formation of a panel of petroleum engineering professors to prepare a report on the blaze. Refaat said fires at four oil containers have been extinguished, and that efforts continue to put out fires at the remaining two.

Despite admitting that the Suez refinery accounts for 10 percent of local production, the Petroleum Ministry has said that the market supply of diesel oil will not be affected by the blaze.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab denied that any explosions took place at the oil reservoirs in the region. He said a technical team has been tasked with investigating the cause of the fire.

Hany Dahy, director of the General Petroleum Corporation, said in statements quoted by state-run news agency MENA that the incident will not leave a negative impact on the petroleum market. He explained that the fuel produced in the Suez refinery is used for aircrafts and is meant for exporting rather than local distribution.

Amr Mostafa, the corporation’s operations director, said the Nasr refinery produces 2,000 tons of diesel oil, adding that the amounts of crude oil have been redirected to Cairo labs to make sure the market is not negatively impacted.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Petroleum Ministry plan to import oil products costs US$1.1bn a month

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April 2nd, 2012

The General Petroleum Authority has submitted a plan to Finance Ministry for May and June including the allocations needed for oil product imports costing US$1.1 billion per month. Official sources warned of a new oil crisis due to a shortage in finances needed for the imports.

The authority needs LE8 billion a month to provide fuel products while stopping illegal trading and smuggling, sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm, adding that the number may rise to LE9 billion based fluctuation in the oil market due to the political situation between Iran and the West.

The authority is working to provide 70 percent of the finances needed and still needs support from the Finance Ministry, which did not answer to requests for the finances required for the next three months.

The sources, which preferred to remain anonymous, said the authority received the finances for this month only, while there are no guarantees for finances for the next two months, portending a crisis.

The head of the General Petroleum Authority, Hani Dahi, said the authority needs US$35 million per day to provide for needs of the local market for diesel, butane and gas.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab said the Finance Ministry will perform its role in providing the finances needed through the ongoing mutual coordination.

Former Finance Minister Hazem al-Beblawy said the authority had to borrow from banks to cover its financial needs. Beblawy said the authority is bleeding red ink, which increased after the 25 January 2011 revolution.

Petroleum engineering professor at Pharaohs University, Ramadan Abu al-Ela, said the oil imports endanger Egypt's reserves of foreign funds.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Interior Minister awaits Parliament’s signal to clear Tahrir

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March 28th, 2012

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has said he is ready to clear Tahrir Square within an hour if Parliament asks him to, and if political forces admit that the protesters remaining in the square are neither activists nor demonstrators wounded during the January uprising.

Tahrir Square was the center of massive demonstrations last year which forced former President Hosni Mubarak to step down and subsequent protests and sit-ins under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Earlier in March, several political and activist groups announced the suspension of sit-ins in the square due to what some said was the presence of "thugs" and "infiltrators."

"We are going through an extremely critical phase, and I can bet that security efforts being exerted by our ministry are unprecedented," Ibrahim said during a joint press conference with Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab. "Security activities will be doubled over the next period on all levels. Police forces will be provided with all equipment required."

From 20-26 March, the ministry confiscated 326 weapons, apprehended 178 escaped convicts, unveiled 45 gangs, and foiled the smuggling of 2 million tons of fuel oil and 5,575 butane canisters, Ibrahim claimed.

Ibrahim has faced scathing criticisms in recent months for security forces' violence against protesters. Ten people were killed in clashes with security forces around the ministry's main office in downtown Cairo after demonstrators voiced anger over police idleness during a rampage that killed 74 people at the Port Said football match in early February.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

 

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FJP vows to investigate alleged nepotism incident

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March 15th, 2012

The Freedom and Justice Party will investigate allegations that the son of an FJP parliamentary leader was appointed to government position because of his father’s influence, the party’s Gharbiya branch said in a Wednesday statement.

A copy of what appears to be an official letter recommending Osama al-Sayed Askar for employment at the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO) went viral on social networking websites Wednesday.

Ahmed Mohamed al-Wetaidy, the first undersecretary of the Petroleum Ministry, allegedly sent the letter to Mohamed Magdy Tawfiq, the GASCO chairman.

“Please, kindly take the necessary measures to appoint Mr. Osama al-Sayed Askar, one of the former employees of the Petro Trade Company, to your esteemed company. Kindly take necessary measures, as it is an urgent topic,” reads the document.

Askar, the son of FJP MP Sayed Askar, who heads the Parliament’s Religious, Social and Religious Endowments Committee, was sacked from the Petro Trade Company in 2008 upon orders from the now-disbanded State Security Investigation Services. Prior to the uprising, National Democratic Party members were often concerned that members of political opposition groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, were serving in government posts.

The younger Askar confirmed to Al-Masry Al-Youm on Wednesday the account of his firing. After the judiciary could not resolve the matter, the Petroleum Ministry contacted him to settle it amiably away from the courts. The ministry offered to get him his job back if he agreed to forgo the LE120,000 he was owed in employee benefits, he said.

Askar denied that his father or the FJP had anything to do with his appointment at GASCO, where he currently works.

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told Al-Masry Al-Youm Thursday that he issued a decision last June to restore jobs to all employees who had been dismissed from their jobs for political reasons and without legal justification.

This decision made no exceptions and included the younger Askar, Ghorab said. Abdullah said he received a complaint from Askar four months ago, which underwent an investigation that eventually proved there was no reason to fire him. He was subsequently included in the June decision.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Battles over scarce butane gas cylinders continue in Egypt

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February 21st, 2012

The battle for scarce butane gas cylinders continued on Tuesday for the third month in a row with people fighting each other and blocking highways in protest against the government's inability to resolve the crisis.

In Daqahlia, knife fights broke out, wounding three after people rushed to get cylinders from a truck provided by the governorate to help solve the crisis.

Police and military forces dispersed protesters in Ismailia who said the cylinders are only found on the black market. A protest on a road in the village of Bahtini led to a traffic jam.

In Giza, owners of poultry farms said disease spread among their chickens due to a lack of cylinders to heat the farms, and warned of price increases for chicken.

The ministries of Supply and Home Trade and Petroleum said they would increase supply to reach 15,000 tons per day.

In a meeting to discuss the crisis with People’s Assembly’s Industry Committee, Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab denied any shortage in production.

Ghorab said that the ministry is producing 33 million cylinders a month for domestic consumption despite normally only producing 25 million cylinders.

Ghorab assigned responsibility to the Ministry of Supply and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Interior for monitoring the final stages of distributing cylinders in the markets.

The minister accused governors, whom he did not name, of blocking the distribution of natural gas to some areas in their governorates via pipelines.

Regarding exporting gas to Israel, Ghorab, said the ministry cannot stop Egyptian gas exports to Israel and required new legislation by Parliament. This came in response to a demand Tuesday by the People's Assembly's Industry Committee to stop gas exports to Israel.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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