Egyptian Oil Minister, Sameh Fahmy called for expansion of Irano-Egypt cooperation in oil, gas and petrochemicals.
Fahmy told the Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, who was in Cairo for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ministerial meeting, that, given Iran's experience and capabilities in oil industry, Egypt wants to boost ties with Iran especially in fields such as refining Iranian crude oil in Egypt, production of petrochemical products and Gas-to-Liquids (GTL).



Zanganeh said Iran was ready to cooperate with Egypt, adding that given Iran's huge oil and gas reserves as well as its experience in the oil related industries, it could have good cooperation with Egypt.
NPC and Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) are studying the construction of a 1m tonne/year gas-based ethylene cracker in Egypt.
In October 2001, in a meeting with a top-ranking delegation from NPC, Mr. Fahmy verified that there would be gas feed for the project. This will facilitate the feasibility of the project.During their stay in Egypt, the NPC delegation visited a number of sites proposed for the project whose feasibility study is going to be conducted based on gas composition and availability of infrastructure and utilities.
NPC's director of projects, Mr. Seyed Hassan Sadat told NPC News Bulletin that NPC team was encouraged by HE Fahmy's support and assurance that there would be gas feed for the project. The project was previously planned to consume naphtha.