Fahmy signs three oil agreements with British, Italian, German, Croatian firms

"As Egypt signs more petroleum agreements, more oil reserves are discovered and exports increase," said Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy yesterday.

"This of course leads to petroleum self-sufficiency. The surplus is exported bringing in foreign currency, which is an important boom for Egypt's comprehensive development," Fahmy added following the signing of agreements for oil exploration with oil companies from Britain, Italy, Germany and Croatia. He explained that Egypt managed to attract huge foreign investment in the field of oil exploration despite fierce investment competition worldwide.

"It all boils down to the transparent policies of the Ministry of Petroleum, let alone the economic and political stability which has been a prominent feature of President Mubarak's rule," said Fahmy.

He added that the Egyptian Petroleum Sector signed 25 agreements for oil exploration during the year 2004 in addition to approving 14 new agreements in April 2005. Fahmy expected the number of petroleum agreements for 2005 to reach 40, a 60 per cent increase since 2004.