London, 16 December (Argus) — Saudi Arabia will boost its investments in Egypt to SAR30bn ($8bn) and help to cover Egypt's oil needs for five years, Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince and defence minister Mohammad bin Salman said at the start of a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
The government-run news agency SPA, which quoted Mohammad bin Salman, did not specify the amount of oil that Saudi Arabia has pledged to provide to Egypt, nor did it say whether the oil would be free or sold at a discount. The energy aid is likely to take the shape of refined products, rather than crude oil.
A $1.4bn three month deal under which state-owned Saudi Aramco supplied Egypt's EGPC with 500,00t of diesel, 220,000t of heating oil and 150,000t of gasoline each month expired at the end of November. EGPC was considering renewing the contracts or bidding through Saudi Aramco tenders.
Mohammad bin Salman, who is the son of Saudi king Salman bin Abdel-Aziz, is defence minister, head of the country's supreme economic and development council and chairman of Saudi Aramco's supreme council.
Saudi Arabia showed its support for al-Sisi following his military-led coup against former Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammad Morsi in 2013 by providing Egypt with aid worth several billion dollars.
Over the past few days, Saudi Arabia has been largely instrumental in forming an Islamic military alliance comprising 34 nations, including Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan. Saudi foreign minister Adel Jubair has said the purpose of the alliance is "to fight terrorism".
Although the Saudi announcement of economic aid to Egypt made no mention of the new military alliance, the actual delivery of the pledged Saudi aid is almost certain to hinge on an active Egyptian role in the coalition.
