EMEA News
Sonker Bunkers Lands $341 Million Development Loan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) today announced that it will provide funds to Sonker Bunkering Company S.A.E. (Sonker) to undertake a significant upgrade of Egypt's oil and gas infrastructure.
The US$341 million loan will be used to install and increase storage and handling capacity for imports of gasoil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the third basin of Ain Sokhna Port.
The new infrastructure will accommodate the docking of two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and a pipeline delivering LNG imports to the national gas grid.
The loan will also support Sonker in upgrading safety standards to prevent any oil contamination.
"Foreseeing the growing local demand for energy, the Egyptian authorities, supported us in developing this first bulk-liquids terminal on the Red Sea, as a successful public-private partnership project," said Ossama Al Sharif, Sonker's Managing Director.
"The Sonker Project will ensure a constant supply of energy to our burgeoning economy and will certainly transform the Red Sea area into a regional hub for trading petroleum products, not only for the Egyptian market, but also for East Africa and Europe," said Al Sharif.
The loan is being advanced by a consortium made up of the EBRD, the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), and the Commercial International Bank of Egypt.
Heba Abdellatif, Head of Debt Capital Markets at CIB, was quoted as saying that, "CIB is committed to supporting Egypt's liquid-storage capacity for petroleum products and views this project as being of strategic importance to ensure continuity of supply and minimize the cost of imported products."
In December of 2015 Ship & Bunker reported that Sonker had signed an agreement with Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA), the Red Sea Ports Authority (RSPA) and Dubai Ports World (DP World) to develop the Ain Sokhna seaport.
