State-owned company, Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) is looking to import up to 178,000 tonnes of gasoil for supply in January, a tender document have shown.

The company is in search of two cargoes of 30,000 to 33,000 tonnes each with 0.1% sulphur gasoil for delivery into the Alexandria or El Dekheila ports from January 11 to 13 and January 22 to 24.

EGPC through a separate tender, is also on the lookout for two cargoes of 34,000 to 36,000 tonnes each of 0.1% sulphur gasoil for delivery into the Suez port from January 11 to 13 and January 24 to 26 as well as 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes of 0.5% sulphur gasoil for delivery into Ain Sukhna from January 23 to 25, 2017.

Both tenders will be closed on December 29, 2016 and are valid till January 3, 2017.

Egypt which was once an energy exporter has become an importer and has been strongly looking for oil products in the spot market after Saudi Arabia informed it last month that shipments of oil products under the $23 billion aid deal had been halted until further notice.

Ever since President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi took over after a year of conflict-ridden rule by the Muslim Brotherhood, Gulf Arab countries, steered by Saudi Arabia, have injected billions of dollars into Egypt's failing economy, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji