The Egyptian branch of British Petroleum announced the discovery of a new gas well in the Nile Delta Monday. The new well “Salamon” is the third discovery by the company. "Salamon" lies 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Damietta, and was dug by the Italian company IOC on the behalf of BP Egypt. IOC supervises drilling operations in the Delta. Records showed the existence of two sand layers with gas. The layers are at a shallow depth and belong to the Pleistocene period. The president of BP Egypt, Hisham Mekkawy, said that this discovery demonstrates the high opportunities to discover more gas wells in the area and could reveal additional resources in the region. He also said that this discovery is the fruit of continual cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum. The cooperation aims for new gas discoveries that would secure additional support to the gas industry's future in Egypt. BP has discovering and producing gas and petroleum in Egypt for 50 years.