KUWAIT – Kuwait has sent two oil tankers carrying crude and diesel worth $200 million to Egypt, a Kuwaiti newspaper said Sunday, part of a $4 billion aid package pledged by the Gulf state last week after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. Kuwait last week joined other oil-producing Gulf states in pledging a massive aid package worth $12 billion to Egypt in a show of support after the army toppled the Muslim Brotherhood government. Kuwait's Arabic-language Al-Rai newspaper quoted oil sources as saying that an oil tanker carrying between 90,000 and 100,000 tons of diesel that happened to be traveling through the Suez Canal was diverted to Egypt. A second tanker with 1.1 million barrels of crude was ordered to sail toward Egypt, it said. The newspaper estimated the value of the cargo on each ship at $100 million. Kuwaiti officials were not immediately available to comment on the report. The state news agency KUNA said last week that Kuwait's aid package would comprise a $2 billion central bank deposit, a $1 billion grant and $1 billion in oil products. It did not say when the aid would be delivered. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had earlier pledged a total of $8 billion in aid to Egypt. The aid to Egypt from the three Gulf Arab oil producers is expected to help Cairo avoid a balance of payments crisis and overcome fuel shortages. – Reuters
