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Gasoline, alcohol or what?

Sherine Nasr investigates the opinion of experts about the latest gasoline shipment to Egypt
Oil experts believe that the latest gasoline shipment imported to Egypt from the United Arab Emirates did not meet the Egyptian specifications for gasoline. However, they do not know why it has been permitted into the country and traded freely.

A month has already elapsed since the alcohol-smelling gasoline was first circulated in the Egyptian market. Although this pungent odour no longer exists in many fuelling stations because it has already been consumed, many facts about this shipment remain a mystery. As a matter of fact, the whole scenario of importing gasoline from a neighbouring country for local use has opened the door to important still unanswered questions.

One of these inquiries was raised by Amr Kamal Hamouda, head of the Fustat Centre for Studies and an oil expert who ponders over the reasons why the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation ( EGPC ) should, all of a sudden, decide to import a commodity that is locally produced and in sufficient quantities. "The cases where Egypt has had to import gasoline were very limited, since we are a self-sufficient gasoline country and such has been the case for years now. We may have to import other petroleum products but never gasoline," confirmed Hamouda who added, "we have not, so far, been given a satisfactory answer to this very important question."

What made the situation all the more confusing were the statements released earlier by EGPC . A couple of contradictory statements were released almost in the same time; the first by Medhat Youssef, EGPC vice- chairman for refining and operations, who explained that the Cairo Oil Refining Company (CORC) had produced a gasoline with a high ethanol component and this is why a pungent odour was widely noticed by attendants at the fuelling stations and consumers alike.

It is worth noting that ethanol is a type of alcohol that can be made from almost anything. In the United States, for example, 90 per cent of ethanol comes from corn. Ethanol can be mixed with gasoline in different percentages and the mixture costs less than pure gasoline. Another statement by the same body later indicated that a shipment of gasoline was imported by the UAE and this is the typical odour of the gasoline traded in the Arab area.

To the consumer's astonishment, an expert in the energy field, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that gasoline in the UAE does not include an ethanol component. "UAE gasoline is ethanol-free," said the expert who believes that the imported gasoline shipment did not meet the Egyptian standards specifications. "This is the only reasonable explanation I can give as an expert. Why this shipment has been admitted into the local market, I have no clue. The shipment should not have been approved and should have been sent back. The exporting company should have been fined for violating the contracted terms of the agreement. However, the product was circulated on a large scale in Cairo.

Explanations were only given later to ease the tension felt by consumers. An anonymous official from the EGPC who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly ruled out the possibility of ethanol as an additive to the latest UAE imported gasoline. He explained that when crude is processed, it has to be stabilised for a certain time in order to separate the different products. "It seems that the gasoline imported from the UAE was not stabilised enough and this is why it had this strange smell," said the source who could not overrule the fact that the latest shipment did not meet the specifications of gasoline in Egypt.

While experts continue to ponder the fact and fiction of this latest gasoline shipment, consumers, on the other side, are mainly worried about the impact this gasoline could have on their vehicles, particularly the old model ones which form the majority of the operating vehicles in the city.

"I am afraid that my 1985 Fiat will not tolerate the ethanol-mixed gasoline and I cannot afford overhaul maintenance in case this type of gasoline harms the engine," said Hani Sorour from Heliopolis who added that he has also noticed that this gasoline was consumed faster than regular fuel.

"If this gasoline is really mixed with ethanol, it should cost less. Isn't it ridiculous that we are sold a different type of gasoline at the same price as the regular one?" Sorour wondered.

© Al Ahram Weekly 2007