Egypt plans to upgrade six oil refineries at a cost of about $9 billion over four years to increase domestic production to 41 million tonnes a year, the petroleum minister has said.

Tarek El Molla said during a conference in Cairo late on Sunday in Cairo that the aim was to secure crude oil supplies for Egyptian refineries to increase the volume of refined products.

Egypt currently has eight refineries with a capacity of 38 million tonnes, of which only 25 million tonnes are utilised. (Reuters/NAN)