NBE Opens US$240mn Letters of Credit to Ship 2 million Barrels of Oil from Kuwait

National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has approved to open letters of credit worth US$240 million in favor of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in order to import Kuwaiti oil shipment.

An official source has informed Amwal Al Ghad that NBE approved to issue letters of credit at the end of last year for EGPC so as to import Kuwaiti crude oil shipment estimated at two million barrels to provide the needs of the local market from fuel.

Reuters revealed in the last month that it would ship around two million barrels of crude oil in early October to Egypt, giving it priority as a buyer ahead of sales from storage into the Mediterranean market.

The deal for two million barrels a month of Kuwaiti crude was signed this week with the Arab Petroleum Pipeline Co., known as SUMED.

SUMED, which owns and operates Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, is half owned by state run oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) while a group of four other Gulf Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar – own the other half.