Monday, September 24, 2018

Egypt's Enppi, UK's Wood Group sign partnership deal on gas exploration, production - AHRAM ONLINE

Monday 24 Sep 2018

Egypt’s state oil company Engineering for Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) signed a deal on Monday with the UK’s Wood Group for a technical and engineering partnership on natural gas exploration and production through deepwater drilling.

In an official statement, Egypt’s petroleum ministry said the inking of the agreement was witnessed by Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla, UK’s Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams, and UK trade envoy Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

It was signed by the Chairman of Enppi Alaa Hejazi and his counterpart at Wood, Colin McKinnon.

El-Molla said following the signing that the agreement aims to transfer technology and necessary experience between both sides to undergo the needed engineering work for natural gas exploration and drilling in the deep ocean, as Egypt continues to move forward with executing mega projects for the development and production of natural gas from the Mediterranean.



He also praised the deal, marking it as a new step of extended cooperation between Egypt and the UK in natural gas production through several successful models of partnership between the petroleum sector and British companies throughout a number of development projects in discovered gas fields in the Mediterranean.

He pointed at the durability of economic relations between the two countries, describing London as Cairo’s first trading partner, responsible for 40% of direct foreign investments into Egypt.

Enppi’s Hegazi said the agreement is a representation of the successful partnership between the two companies in building on accomplishments between both sides in the past period in deepwater drilling projects.

Wood’s CEO McKinnon said there has been an ongoing partnership with Enppi for more than four years, adding that his company will continue to work with Enppi on offering the technology and the knowledge for Egyptian companies in oil exploration in deepwater projects.

The UK has shown great interest over the past years in Egypt’s petroleum sector, with British Petroleum (BP) signing with Egypt a deal on oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Suez with investments of about $46 million, in addition to a $4 million grant to drill three wells.

Egypt said last May that the UK has investments of $5.6 billion through 1,450 companies operating in the country.

SOURCE