Egypt and Fujairah strengthen petroleum hub collaboration

Egypt and the UAE’s Emirate of Fujairah have commenced implementing the terms of their August 2024 cooperation agreement, with the first oil tanker arriving at Egypt’s Hamra Port.

The collaboration, driven by the Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR), marks a step toward enhancing Egypt’s role as an energy trading hub in the Mediterranean.

Under the agreement, Fujairah’s expertise in managing one of the world’s busiest bunkering and trading hubs is being shared to develop Hamra Port into a logistics zone for petroleum product trading.

Plans include leveraging Egypt’s geographic advantage and existing infrastructure at Hamra to handle greater volumes of crude oil and refined products, while also ensuring a supply to meet local energy demands.

MoPMR Minister Karim Badawi noted that the agreement aligns with Egypt’s vision to integrate its energy sector into the regional market.

While addressing the collaboration, he underscored the importance of utilising Fujairah’s operational knowledge and infrastructure models to elevate Hamra’s capacity.

The aim is to transfer advanced logistics practices and replicate successful strategies, noted Minister Badawi.

He also highlighted that the arrival of the first tanker signals a practical beginning to transforming Hamra into a petroleum logistics hub. 

Fujairah, known for handling over 120M tonnes of liquid bulk annually, is lending its model of large-scale petroleum product management to Egypt.

Meanwhile, Hamra Port, currently with a throughput of approximately 3.7M tonnes, is set to double its storage capacity in the coming years to meet the increased demand, and its continued development into a Fujairah-style hub would have a substantial impact on the tanker trades in the region.