Total, a French multinational oil and gas company, has withdrawn from a US$6 billion deal it had made with the Egyptian PetroChemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) to produce propylene and polypropylene in Suez.
The People's Assembly’s Economic Committee Deputy Abbas Abdel Aziz, who was involved in the negotiations surrounding the project, said Total informed the Egyptian side that it was withdrawing due to the current political turmoil in Egypt.
Abdel Aziz told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Suez Governorate had allocated nearly 2 million square meters for the project after it was selected as the location instead of Port Said.
He explained that the Port Said Stadium violence in which 74 people were killed following a football match in February resulted in the choice of Suez.
He said that the project would have provided 10,000 employment opportunities according to the feasibility study, 50 percent of which was completed.
Abdel Aziz said the Suez Nasr Petroleum Company fire last month also contributed to Total's withdrawal.
Earlier this year,Total announced an initial agreement with ECHEM to establish a project in which natural gas would be converted into methanol.
According to the agreement, 40,000 tons of butane gas, 85,000 tons of gasoline, and 470,000 tons of polypropylene would have been produced annually.
An official source from the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, who requested anonymity, said there was a 35 percent decline in the amount of foreign investments in April, due to the escalation of political tension and unrest in Egypt, as well as the political tensions in Sinai.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
