Egypt offers oil and gas contracts
The state-backed Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. has, in a bid to increase the country’s fossil fuel production, awarded eight oil and gas exploration licences in the Mediterranean Sea.
The licenses were won by BP, Petroceltic International, Eni and its subsidiary IEOC, Edison, Dana Gas, Sea Dragon and Pura Vida Energy. The winning companies will pay £73.2 million in total for the licences and drill at least 18 wells, with an overall minimum investment of US$ 1.2 billion.
This deadline for bidding had originally been November 14th 2012, but low interest saw this pushed back to February 13th 2013.
Egypt’s Energy Minister, Osama Kamal was quoted in a statement as saying that, “Issuing international tenders is part of the ministry of oil’s strategies to intensify oil and gas exploration activities to secure new energy supplies … and encourage international firms to pump more investments in research, exploration and development.” According to reports, Kamal had previously been recorded as stating that total oil and gas investment for 2013 was expected to reach USS$ 8.6 billion.
The country’s recent instability in the wake of the Arab Spring and the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak have seen oil and gas operations slow down. The drop in production, combined with a weakened currency mean that Egypt has had to pay over the odds for crude supplies.
Edited from various sources by David Bizley
Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/18042013/egypt_offers_oil_and_gas_contracts/
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