Iraq to Provide Egypt with First Petroleum Shipment in Days

Iraq's Ambassador to Cairo Habib El-Sadr has said his country to provide Egypt with the first petroleum shipment from Al-Basra Oil Terminal within days, according to a recent agreement signed between the two countries, the MENA state new agency reported Tuesday.

In December, Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla announced the country was seeking to reach an agreement with Iraq over importing crude oil directly and that he hoped to finalise the deal in the first quarter of 2017.

In a Cairo meeting of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) last month, El-Molla said that Egypt aims to import 1-2 million barrels per month from Iraq.

The move came as part of Egypt's efforts to secure domestic market needs for petroleum after the Saudi national oil company Aramco informed Egypt in November that shipments of oil products expected under a prior multi-billion dollar aid deal had been halted indefinitely.

In April 2016, the oil-rich kingdom agreed with Egypt on a $22-billion soft loan with facilitated payments to finance the latter’s petroleum needs for five years.