Egypt to boost gas handling capacity

Significant improvements to Egypt’s capacity to import liquefied gas are anticipated after the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and the World Bank announced financing for hydrocarbon storage and bunkering company Sonker, reports Keith Nuthall.

The international financiers are to lend $341mn to Sonker, with the EBRD lending $94mn, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) lending $92mn and $52.5mn being leveraged from other private investors. The Commercial International Bank (CIB) of Egypt, the country’s largest private-sector bank, is lending some $72mn, while offering a $30mn credit support instrument facility.

Sonker will use the funds to construct and operate a bulk-liquids terminal for importing and storing gasoil and LPG in Ain Sokhna port, on the Red Sea. This will enable
the docking of two floating storage and regasification units and funnelling LNG imports to the national gas grid.

The loans will also help Sonker boost its corporate governance and business conduct through developing an environmental and social action plan and upgrading safety standards to prevent oil contamination.

Ossama Al Sharif, Sonker’s Managing Director, says the project ‘will ensure a constant supply of energy to our burgeoning economy and… transform the Red Sea area into a regional hub for trading petroleum products.’