Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC)
The Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC) was established in 1997 with issued capital of LE 420 million. The company's three largest shareholders are the National Bank of Egypt, Alexandria Petroleum Company and Banque Misr; each held approximately a 20% share before last September's public offering. After the IPO, only Alexandria Petroleum retained its 20% share. The percentages owned by the National Bank and Banque Misr went down to 18.8 and 14.3% respectively.
AMOC began production in July 2002. Today, the company specializes in the production of base oils, transformer oils, automatic transmission fluids, waxes, gas oil, naphtha, LPG and fuel oil blend. As the smallest of Egypt's nine oil refineries, AMOC produces only 2% of the country's total oil refined products.
The company's stellar performance (net profits FY2004/05 were LE 517.5 million, up 419% from the previous year) is attributed to the launch of AMOC's new gasoil complex in April 2004.
The new facility boosted production volumes by 172%. An increase in oil prices by 42% for fiscal year 2005 was also a factor that boosted earnings. Gasoil is an intermediate refinery product that is heavier than diesel but lighter than residual fuel; it is used as what the industry calls a "feedstock" to make lubricating oils or can be converted into lighter, more valuable products through cracking.
© Business Today Egypt 2005
