Egypt concludes 25 agreements with world oil companies

Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy said that the Ministry's plan has succeeded in luring international companies to prospect for oil and natural gas in Egypt, a matter which culminated in signing 25 agreements from February 2004 up till now.

Fahmy said that these agreements cover oil and natural gas prospecting in offshore and inshore areas republic-wide, over an area of 170,000 kilometres with minimum commitments $79 million to drill 114 wildcats.

Furthermore, the People's Assembly has recently endorsed four new agreements including one with the British Petroleum (BP) for prospecting and utilizing a concession area of 1174 kilometres in north Shedwan in the Gulf of Suez.

Under the agreement, the minimum spending commitments hit $20 million to drill 4 wells over a nine-year period.

The second agreement signed was with a major Swiss oil company to explore oil in south Zeit Gulf in the Gulf of Suez over an area of 294 kilometres with minimum spending commitments of, $18 million for drilling 6 wells in a seven-year period.

The third agreement is related to modification of a signed agreement with Apachi Corporation for oil exploration in Khalda area in the Western Desert to be expanded to develop Khalda, Salam and Tarek areas with total investments of $314 million.

The fourth agreement is designed to amend the pricing of the natural gas in two areas in the Gulf of Suez with the BP Company.