A spokesperson from Egypt’s Oil Ministry has told MEED that Egypt has secured imports of petroleum products from ”other sources” following a halting of this month’s shipment from Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Arabia agreed in April this year to provide Egypt with 700,000 tons of fuel monthly for five years on easy repayment terms, but October’s shipment was not received for unknown reasons.

Saudi Aramco was not directly available for a comment and there has been no public statement regarding this month’s delay.

Local media in Egypt has attributed the delay to a recent disagreement between the two countries over decisions in Syria.

Egypt recently voted against Saudi Arabia’s calls at the UN General Assembly to end air strikes by Russian and Syrian troops in Aleppo.

In April this year Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Egypt with 700,000 tonnes of oil products a month in a $23bn deal over five years. The deal was part of the talks when Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud visited Egypt earlier this month, agreeing to provide widespread support to the Cairo government.

Egypt agreed to receive financing for the oil and gas products but will have to repay the money. The supply deal between Saudi Aramco and EGPC includes 400,000 tonnes of gas oil and 200,000 tonnes of benzene.