Dragon Oil to drill in Gulf of Suez
Kuwait and US also sign deals
Egypt has signed new exploration contracts worth more than $121 million as part of efforts to accelerate production and attract new investments in the energy sector.
The deals cover concessions in the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez and North Sinai, the ministry of petroleum said in a statement.
The first agreement was signed with Parenco Egypt, a subsidiary of Egypt Kuwait Holding, to drill three wells in North Sinai for $46 million.
Dragon Oil, a wholly owned unit of Dubai’s state-backed Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), committed $40.5 million for three wells in the Gulf of Suez under the second deal.
The third contract went to US-based Apache, which will invest $35 million to drill 14 wells, the statement said.
No details were given on the potential oil reserves.
This month UK energy company BP signed a memorandum of understanding with state-backed Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) to drill five gas wells in the Mediterranean Sea.
In August Egypt’s petroleum ministry signed four deals with international companies worth $340 million to explore for oil and gas in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta.
Further reading:
Egypt announced plans to award new gas contracts to foreign companies as part of the latest concession bidding round in July.
The concessions cover more than 26,000 sq km in north and northeast Egypt, as well as in offshore areas in the East Mediterranean, which provides most of the country’s existing gas production.
The latest round involves 12 onshore and offshore concessions offered by Egas, which hopes these projects will reverse a decline in the country’s natural gas wealth.