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Monday, November 5, 2018
International oil and gas firms with an interest in exploring in Egypt’s Red Sea will get their chance to gain access to acreage. According to the country’s Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla, the government plans to invite international players to explore for oil and gas in its territorial Red Sea waters before the end of the year.
El Molla said the process would be announced after the processing of seismic data collected by Schlumberger and TGS. The two companies started work in the area in March and the data collected, the Ministry of Petroleum said, are being processed. The Ministry said it expects huge interest.
Egypt became an important spot on the international oil and gas map after major finds were made off its Mediterranean coast. The discoveries include the Zohr Field, which contains confirmed reserves of 850 Bcm of gas.
Zohr was one of four major gas wells that came online in Egypt in the past year, allowing Egypt to achieve self-sufficiency with 6.7 Bcf of daily production. The government stopped imports in October and is expected to resume gas exports next year
Foreign and local companies spent $27 billion in developing the four wells. The willingness of international companies to invest such huge amounts of money in Egypt boosted the country’s image in international oil and gas markets, the Petroleum Ministry said.
“International oil and gas companies know that this country has a lot to give them,” said Hamdi Abdel Aziz, the spokesman of the Ministry. “This is why we expect high interest among international companies in the expected bid for exploration in the Red Sea.”
Abdel Aziz described data collected by Schlumberger and TGC as “very positive.”
“There are strong possibilities for the discovery of large amounts of gas and crude oil in the area,” Abdel Aziz said. “This will be very encouraging for international oil and gas companies.”
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