Egypt's oil minister makes rare trip to Iran for oil talks after Saudi suspension

[HAIDER]

Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla was on his way to Iran on Sunday to try to strike new oil deals, sources close to his delegation said at Cairo airport, after Saudi Arabia suspended its oil agreement last month.

After that suspension, Egypt voted in favor of a Russian-backed U.N. resolution on Syria in October that excluded calls to stop bombing Aleppo, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed.

Saudi Arabia has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since 2013, when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and banned the Islamist movement, which Riyadh opposes.

The Saudi deal was for 700,000 tonnes of oil products a month for five years under a $23 billion deal between Saudi Aramco and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to be paid off over 15 years.

Molla is set to meet several senior Iranian officials to discuss the possibility of securing oil supplies from Tehran, one source, who accompanied Molla to the airport, said.

His visit to Iran, Saudi Arabia's main regional rival, may signal a further rift between Egypt and its top benefactor.

Molla said last month it was unclear when the Saudi oil deliveries would resume and Saudi Arabia has provided no reason for their suspension.

Egypt has since worked to secure new energy sources, signing a memorandum of understanding last week with Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR for up to 2 million barrels of crude oil.

The EGPC last week signed a farm-out agreement with Kuwait Energy Plc giving Egypt's state oil buyer a 20-percent participating interest in its Siba field in Iraq.

 

[Qutb-ud-din Aybak]

egypt will be destroyed 4 times in world war 3. future foretold.

 

[OldTwilight]

We need to just change that damn street name and normalize relation with Egypt .... but there are too many hypocritical officials in Iran ...

 

[Madali]

Are the Egyptians holding out for more money from Saudi? Egypt's recent diplomatic maneuver is weird.

 

[Pandora]

Uncle Sam on its way to give Egypt a taste of democracy soon.

 

[Max]

Saudi suspended deal, Egypt looking for new oil supplier, its perfectly okay but why Saudi suspended deal in first place?

 

[Sinnerman108]

@Frogman

What is going on here ?

 

[singlefighter]

Saudis must be treated like this they pay for the egypt france Rafael deal and turn down Pakistan call for financial aid for weapons procurement now Pakistan must turn down saudi call for the help against houthis .and they did the drama of houthi missile attack on makkah. To exploit the sentiments of innocent people of Pakistan to put pressure on pak army and govt for military man supply and here in saaudis are treating Pakistanis like dogs. Hundred thousands of Pakistani are here helpless in sadia most of the companies in sadia are default due to lack of funds but saudi govt is war mongering why they did hypocrisy the must adress their home problems first then move to international scenario. But in the end well done sisi you did the revenge for expatriates who are struck in sadia like me and others

 

[T-Rex]

Uncle Sam on its way to give Egypt a taste of democracy soon.

The mafia boss in Egypt will get the taste of betrayal soon. All his life he handed out betrayal to others. It doesn't matter who finishes off this scumbag, his demise will be the best news for Egypt and her people.

 

[Hell NO]

The Egyptian minister denied going to Iran or even thinking about it in the future.

 

[xenon54 out]

The Egyptian minister denied going to Iran or even thinking about it in the future.

So whats happening between Saudi Arabia and Egypt?

Aramco Stops Oil Product Shipments To Egypt

 

[f1000n]

Iraq replaced Saudi as oil provider to Egypt

 

[Hindustani78]

The Egyptian minister denied going to Iran or even thinking about it in the future.

Saudi Arabia has informed Egypt that shipments of oil products expected under a $23 billion aid deal have been halted indefinitely, suggesting a deepening rift between the Arab world's richest country and its most populous.

Saudi Arabia has been a major donor to Egypt since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seized power in mid-2013 but Riyadh has become frustrated with Sisi's lack of economic reforms and his reluctance to be drawn into the conflict in Yemen.

During a visit by Saudi King Salman in April, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide Egypt with 700,000 tonnes of refined oil products per month for five years but the cargoes stopped arriving in early October as festering political tensions burst into the open.


Egyptian officials have said since that the contract with Saudi Arabia's state oil firm Aramco remains valid and had appeared to expect that oil would start flowing again soon.

On Monday, however, Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla confirmed it had stopped shipments indefinitely. Aramco has not commented on the halt and did not respond to calls on Monday.

"They did not give us a reason," an oil ministry official told Reuters. "They only informed the authority about halting shipments of petroleum products until further notice."

Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, Molla said he was not going to Iran. An Iranian oil official later said that a report by the semi-official Mehr news agency suggesting Molla would meet his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Monday was "incorrect".

 

[Muhammed45]

We need to just change that damn street name and normalize relation with Egypt .... but there are too many hypocritical officials in Iran ...

Bro this is the twisting power of Russia.
Russia will buy French naval ships form Egypt for 1 dollar. The same ships which Russia had ordered from France. Hahahh a rebuke for Frenchies.
Egypt has no political relations with us. However they are welcomed to our country but they must change their behavior towards Hamas and Gaza.

 

[Oublious]

Who is lying? First post news or that what hinduguy did post?