Cairo – Mubasher: The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on Tuesday stated that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Royal Dutch Shell, and Apex Oil Company signed three new agreements for oil and gas exploration in Egypt’s Western Desert.
Egypt’s minister of petroleum Tarek El-Molla has signed the three investment deals worth $81.4 million, and grants at a value of $23.2 million to drill 16 new wells, according to a statement by the ministry.
The minister signed the agreements with the CEO of the EGPC Abed Ezz El-Regal, Shell’s chairman in Egypt Gasser Hanter, and Apex Oil’s CEO in Egypt Thomas Maher.
The three deals will cover Shell’s investment of $35.5 million in the north of Om Baraka region in the Western Desert, in addition to Apex Oil’s investment of $26.5 million in south east Meleha in Western Desert, and $19.4 million in the area of west Badr El Din, according to the statement.
The minister stressed that the new deals are the EGPC’s latest fruitful global bids, pointing out that the ministry is aiming to increase oil and gas exploration investment in the Western Desert.
El-Molla welcomed the US-based Apex Oil as an investor in Egypt for the first time in the field of oil and gas exploration, which reflects the attractiveness of petroleum activity in Egypt and the success of the ministry’s policy in attracting foreign investors.
The ministry will support the firm to speed up the work and achieve positive results, he concluded.
