Egypt has reportedly not received October allocations of petroleum aid allocation from Saudi Arabia. The halt is forcing the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to rapidly increase tenders even amidst a severe USD shortage and growing arrears to oil producers. EGPC has re-entered the spot market in recent weeks to fill the gap, traders said, announcing its largest purchase tenders in months, including calls for c560,000 tonnes of gasoil for October arrival, a steep rise from the c200,000 tonnes sought in September. On Thursday and Friday, EGPC announced additional tenders for 665,000 tonnes of gas oil and 132,000 tonnes of gasoline for November arrival. Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum spokesman told reporters that he had no information suggesting a suspension of aid, and that it is normal for EGPC to increase quantities in tenders, adding that it is too early in the month to say that Saudi Arabia’s October deliveries are not coming. The aid allocation is worth 700,000 tonnes of refined petroleum products per month for five years. (Reuters)