EGAS to issue natural gas exploration tender in 9 blocks before June

CAIRO – 15 February 2018: The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) will issue a tender for onshore and offshore natural gas exploration in nine blocks, EGAS Vice Chairman for Agreements and Exploration Ahmed Salah Abdel Wahed said Thursday.

The tender, which includes six offshore and three onshore blocks, will be issued before June 2018, he said.

EGAS has put a plan to issue tenders for natural gas exploration annually, especially in the Mediterranean, which the company considers as a promising area for natural gas.

Egypt has been intensifying natural gas exploration activities recently.

On Wednesday, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum signed an agreement with oilfield services company Schlumberger to conduct a seismic survey in the Gulf of Suez, during Egypt’s petroleum show EGYPS 2018, held this week in Cairo.

Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said that the Suez region is a petroleum- promising area that requires more work and studies to further discover the oil and gas it possesses.

Also during EGYPS, the Petroleum Ministry signed an agreement with Baker Hughes International company to launch the operations of Egypt Gate project to market the petroleum zones and oil discoveries, attracting international companies’ investments to these areas.

Egypt Gate project aims to develop advanced mechanisms for the marketing of oil and gas exploration areas through the International Information Network.

In 2015, Italian energy company Eni discover Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field, which is expected to save Egypt some $1 billion annually in gas imports.