CAIRO: Egypt’s oil minister Osama Kamal has dismissed the head of state-owned Misr Petroleum and another top official due to a crisis in distributing fuel used by buses and trucks, state news agency Mena said.
He also ordered the supply of an additional one million litres of diesel to military-run filling stations to ease shortages which have been dragging on for months.
Kamal appointed Saeed Mostafa, head of state-owned refiner and distributor Petrotrade, to replace Nasr Abu Al Saud as Misr Petroleum chief on Sunday, Mena reported.
He also dismissed Egyptian General Petroleum Co’s head Amro Mostafa, and appointed deputy chief executive Tarek Al Mallaat in his place. Egypt, which has endured two years of political instability since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, is trying to control a soaring budget deficit and secure a $4.8bn loan from the IMF.
It is working on an economic programme where it plans to cut back on subsidies of fuel. Last year it eliminated subsidies on 95-octane gasoline, the highest grade available, and it raised fuel prices in many sectors last month.Reuters
