Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla attended on Monday an oil conference in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, where he told Reuters he was not going to Iran.
The news appeared to contradict an earlier Reuters report on Sunday that he was on his way to Tehran to strike new oil deals.
Reuters quoted sources close to his delegation on Sunday as saying he was on his way to Tehran. One source was reported as saying he was due to meet several senior Iranian officials to discuss the possibility of securing oil supplies from Tehran after Saudi Arabia suspended crude shipments to Egypt last month.
On Monday, El Molla told Reuters: “No Iran visit. I am attending the conference.”
Molla was reportedly set to meet several senior Iranian officials to discuss the possibility of securing oil supplies from Tehran, Reuters cited as saying one source who accompanied Molla to the airport.
The Saudi deal was for 700,000 tons of oil products a month for five years under a $23 billion deal between Saudi Aramco and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to be paid off over 15 years.
Molla said last month it was unclear when the Saudi oil deliveries would resume and Saudi Arabia has provided no reason for their suspension.
Egypt has since worked to secure new energy sources, signing a memorandum of understanding last week with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR for up to 2 million barrels of crude oil.
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