Mohamed Hammad
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said Cairo would soon announce its first international bid for oil and gas exploration in the country’s Red Sea territory, as a step towards Egypt increasing its position among natural gas suppliers in the region.
Molla said the ministry carried out two seismic surveys in the Red Sea and southern Egypt that indicated “positive signs that encouraged us to submit tenders to international companies for the extraction of oil and gas in that virgin region.”
“This procedure would not have been possible without the delimitation of the maritime border with Saudi Arabia in April 2016. [The agreement] enabled Egypt to search and explore in this region for the first time,” Molla said.
The surveys were carried out by US companies TGS and Schlumberger at a cost of about $750 million.
Tenders for oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea were to have been announced last December but Molla said Egyptian officials decided to wait to better market the promising potential in the region.
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla said Cairo would soon announce its first international bid for oil and gas exploration in the country’s Red Sea territory, as a step towards Egypt increasing its position among natural gas suppliers in the region.
Molla said the ministry carried out two seismic surveys in the Red Sea and southern Egypt that indicated “positive signs that encouraged us to submit tenders to international companies for the extraction of oil and gas in that virgin region.”
“This procedure would not have been possible without the delimitation of the maritime border with Saudi Arabia in April 2016. [The agreement] enabled Egypt to search and explore in this region for the first time,” Molla said.
The surveys were carried out by US companies TGS and Schlumberger at a cost of about $750 million.
Tenders for oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea were to have been announced last December but Molla said Egyptian officials decided to wait to better market the promising potential in the region.



