Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco has announced that it notified the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, (EGPC), in early October that it would stop the supply of refined oil products to Egypt, a government official revealed.

“Aramco informed the EGPC early this month of its inability to supply Egypt with shipments of petroleum products,” the official said not disclosing the timeline for the suspension or a reason.

The source did not admit that there was a delay in oil supply to Egypt, but officials ascribed the recent delay to Saudi Arabia’s reassessment of its oil share on the international market after an agreement amongst members of the Organization of the Petroleum Export Countries (OPEC) in Algiers, in September to cut output, Xinhua news reports.

Egypt is yet to receive October’s allocations of petroleum benefit from Saudi Arabia, making its state oil company to quickly increase tenders.

EGPC intends to allot over $500 million for the purchase of petroleum products and Egypt plans to launch some tenders to purchase fuel needed for local consumption.

In March, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide Egypt with 700,000 tonnes of refined oil products per month for five years under a $23 billion deal signed between Aramco and EGPC.

Anita Fatunji