Egypt opens international bids to drill for petroleum

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Hamdi El-Banbi said that he is opening an international bid for drilling petroleum in 15 areas inside Egypt, aiming at attracting foreign investments.

In his meeting with members of Rotary Club in Alexandria yesterday, he said that his ministry is concerned with protecting the environment through collecting oil that results from refining petroleum and recycling it, which will provide 20,000 tons of this oil to be used in the coming stage.

He added, "Gas and oil reserves in Egypt reached 216 million tons till now, i.e more than double the Egyptian reserves in 1982."

He added that, "The project of natural gas will be applied to 5 new Egyptian governerates in months."

He said it was agreed with 51 companies of 22 different nationalities to drill for petroleum in Egypt with investments that reach $1.09 billion.