Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail

Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail chaired a meeting on Monday of the general assemblies of Petrogas and Assiut Oil Refining Co. (ASORC) to endorse the outcome of operations during the fiscal year 2013-2014.
Petrogas was able to secure local demands for butane gas that reached 4.3 million tons during the last fiscal year, rising 8.7 percent on the year before, said its chairman Adel el-Sheweikh.
The company was also able to create additional storage capacity to cope with the increasing market demand during the winter, Sheweikh said, noting that Petrogas now has 2,938 storage centers.
Chairman of ASORC Mohamed Allam said the company successfully implemented its plan to refine 4 million tons of crude oil.
Allam also touched upon another successful plan to maximize diesel oil production at laboratories. About 1.1 million tons of diesel oil were produced in 2013-2014, he noted.
About 2.2 million tons of diesel was also produced to cover needs of power plants, Allam added.
He said his company produced 33,000 tons of butane gas and 216,000 tons of Benzine 80.
The total value of oil products amounted to some 3.8 billion dollars, Allam said.
ASORC is working with a committee concerned with upgrading refinery labs to establish a gas recovery unit to increase the production of butane gas by 100 percent, Allam said.