Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tariq Al-Mulla announced today the establishment of three sectors to explore for oil and gas in the Red Sea.
Al-Mulla said that American Chevron won the bidding in one of the sectors. The British Dutch Royal Dutch Shell Group also won a second sector, while the third sector went to the Shell and Mubadala Emirates alliance.
The Egyptian minister added that the total area of the three sectors amounts to ten thousand square kilometers, and pointed out that the minimum investments amount to 326 million dollars, so that they rise to several billion dollars in the stages of development if the discoveries are made.
The minister also indicated that his country had signed 99 petroleum agreements during the past five years, with a minimum investment of approximately 16 billion dollars.
The Minister of Petroleum pointed out that one of the most important successes of the energy sector is the implementation of 27 projects to develop gas fields with investments estimated at 31 billion dollars, and Egypt's production reaching more than seven billion cubic feet of gas per day, and achieving self-sufficiency.
And he talked about converting Egypt from one of the largest gas importers to re-exports, in addition to reducing the dues of foreign partners by more than 80% to reach less than 900 million dollars.
The minister also talked about raising the capacity to receive, transport and store petroleum and gas products with investments amounting to about five billion dollars.
A few days ago, the Egyptian minister signed four new agreements to explore for and produce oil and gas in the regions of Western Sahara, the Gulf of Suez and the Nile Valley, with investments of no less than $ 155 million and involving signature grants of about $ 10.5 million, including the drilling of thirty wells.