Egypt signs three oil agreements with Britain, Switzerland

Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi signed three agreements for oil and natural gas excavation with British and Swiss companies on Thursday.

In press statements, Fahmi said the first agreement was signed with the British O'Brien Energy Company.

Under the first agreement, the company will excavate in a 4,298 km area in the western desert. This requires the company to dig four wells in seven years and offer a grant of $ 300,000. The second agreement was signed with the British L.R Exploration company and the third one with the Swiss Alex Oil company.

Fahmi said the three agreements come as part of Egypt's plan to increase its oil reserves. He added that Egypt has signed 25 agreements with foreign companies in the oil field in 2003/2004.