Saudi Arabia Sent $3bn Worth Of Fuel To Egypt Since April

Saudi Arabia sent Egypt $3 billion worth of refined oil products from April up to the first week of this month, an official from Egypt’s state oil company told Reuters on Thursday.

The EGPC official said the total value of oil aid to Egypt from Saudi Arabia since July 2013 through September of this year amounted to $5 billion.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged aid packages worth $12 billion to Egypt immediately following the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, providing a badly-needed economic lifeline.

The petroleum aid has not, however, managed to noticeably ease Egypt’s energy frequent power cuts, even in upscale areas.

In an effort to combat the energy crisis and encourage new investment to boost local oil and gas output, Egypt has started repaying some of its debt to foreign energy companies, which had reached more than $6 billion.

On Friday, the petroleum ministry signed oil and gas exploration deals worth $187 million with several Western companies and a Tunisian firm.