The energy and environment committee of the House of Representatives approved on Tuesday a draft law from the cabinet to extend the term of the Arab Petroleum Pipelines Company (SUMED). “The new term will start from July 2018 and last for 27 years, as the current contract will end on June 31,” said Al-Sayed Hegazy, representative of the energy and environment committee.
He added that SUMED represents a great addition to the Egyptian energy sector and a strong expression of economic cooperation among Arab countries in this field.
SUMED is a joint stock company of $400m capital, under Law No. 7 of 1974, and owns and operates two parallel pipelines that are 42 inches in diameter and 320 kilometres in length, linking Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Sidi Kreir on the Mediterranean. It provides an alternative to the Suez Canal for transporting oil from the Arab Gulf region to the Mediterranean. Egypt, represented by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), contributed 50% of the capital. The other half was secured from national and public companies and institutions in the oil sector from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
The aim, at the time, was to create a joint venture between Egypt and the Gulf to store and transport Arab petroleum and to export it through SUMED’s port on the Gulf of Suez to Egypt’s ports on the Mediterranean Sea. Hegazy said the extension comes within the framework of the company’s plan to establish a terminal for storage of petroleum products on the Mediterranean coast in the coming period. He pointed out that the government intends to increase investments in the refining sector following the recent giant oil and gas discoveries, especially in the Mediterranean and the Western Desert.
