Egypt Plans US$6b Oil, Gas Investments

Cairo, Egypt | January 04, 2010 by D-8 Secretariat

Egypt expects 520 exploratory and development wells for oil and 36 for natural gas to be drilled in 2010

Egypt is planning to explore for oil and gas and to develop hydrocarbon fields in 2010 with about US$6 billion in investments, the The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum said.

The ministry also unveiled on Friday a plan to drill 520 exploratory oil and gas wells involving investments of USD two billion in 2010.

The plan envisages drilling 36 gas wells in the country’s northern delta coast, the southern governorates of Qena and Aswan, west of the Nile River, and the southern border areas.

The plan is expected to increase the country’s oil and gas reserves and boost the energy production remarkably, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

Eight new gas fields, including Al-Baraka field, south Egypt, with investments of USD three billion, are set to go operational, heralding a new era of the development of the energy industry in Egypt.

The targeted output capacity of Al-Barak, the first oil field in South Egypt, totals 2,500 barrels per day (bpd).

The New Year will see the start of regular production of Egypt’s first gold factory located at Jabal (mount) Al-Sukkari, Al-Sharqiya Governorate, the statement affirmed.

It put the initial output capacity of the factory at 200 ounces per year in the first two years.

The output will rise gradually to hit 500,000 ounces a year in the following stages of the 20-year term of the project, according to the statement.

The explorations for gold will intensify in the remaining sectors of the mount with a view to increasing the country’s reserves estimated at 13 million ounces.

The ministry is preparing to sign in 2010 six agreements with winners of the international tender cast in last year.

The documents will push to 14 the number of licenses for international bidders on gold exploration and production, it revealed.

The country’s two largest petrochemical plants, involving USD 1.7 billion investments, will also start operation in 2010.

The Methanol Complex in the Mediterranean city of Damietta, costing USD 950 million, has a production capacity of 1.3 million tons a year.

The projected output capacity of the Polypropylene Complex in Port Said which cost USD 790 million, hits 400,000 tons a year, the statement added.

News source: Bloomberg, Global Arab Network.

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