Riyadh – Mubasher: The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) on Sunday announced signing a financial structuring mandate with Egypt’s Suez Company for Methanol Derivatives in a deal worth $35 million to $40 million.

The total value of the project is estimated at $60 million, APICORP revealed, noting that the loan would be used to finance the development of a formaldehyde and derivatives project in Damietta, Egypt.

The new plant’s production is set to supply the local market, the multilateral Saudi development bank added, noting that certain quantities will be exported in the early years.

 “APICORP has had a long and successful presence in Egypt. Supporting all areas of the regional energy and petrochemicals industries goes to the very heart of APICORP’s approach, so today’s announcement is evidence of our continued and successful efforts to support and contribute to the stability and growth of the Egyptian economy,” commented APICORP CEO Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga.

Meanwhile, Egyptian petroleum minister Tarek El Molla, who witnessed the signing of the mandate, said that the project was in line with the ministry's strategy to diversify financing sources for Egypt’s oil projects so as to “reduce the need for hard currency and push forward economic development.”

APICORP was established in 1975 by the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) as a commercially-focused financial institution that can help provide efficient financing options to the energy industry in the Arab world.