Egypt says in talks with Saudi Aramco on oil refining

Egypt is in preliminary talks with giant oil producer Saudi Aramco to refine oil in the Mediterranean country, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing Egypt’s petroleum minister, Tarek El Molla.

“Given our strong ties with Saudi Aramco on all levels … we thought of a new alternative that crude can be bought from Saudi Arabia to be refined in Egypt,” El Molla told a local TV program.

In April, the world’s largest oil exporter agreed to provide Egypt with 700,000 tons of refined oil products on a monthly basis for five years.