(Adds minister's visit to Qatar)
CAIRO, March 11 (Reuters) - 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.
Seeking other ways to ease fuel shortages generated by Egypt's economic crisis, Kamal flew to Qatar in a visit airport officials said also aimed discuss Qatari investment in the country's energy sector.
The Gulf emirate has been a major source of financial support to Egypt in recent months, offering $5 billion in grants and loans.
In an effort to address the local supply issues, 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 $4.8 billion 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.
In July the government plans to start a scheme to ration subsidised motor fuel using smart cards available to drivers of vehicles with smaller capacity engines.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by David Stamp and Michael Roddy)
((asma.alsharif@thomsonreuters.com)(+20225783290)(Reuters Messaging: asma.alsharif.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: EGYPT FUEL/
