China buys into SCCT CHINESE shipping giant COSCO Pacific has acquired 20 per cent of the shares of the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) from Egyptian International Container Terminal SA, a subsidiary of AP Moller-Maersk A/S. The share transfer was completed on 30 October. APM Terminals will remain the main shareholder, with 40 per cent of SCCT, while other shareholders will keep the same percentage: IFU Bank holds 15 per cent; the Suez Canal Authority 10 per cent; the Egyptian private sector 10 per cent; and the National Bank of Egypt five per cent. According to company officials, the acquisition is aimed at attracting more Chinese investments to the east of the Port Said port. "COSCO lines will be the third biggest agents of SCCT in 2008 after Maersk and CMA CGM," noted Jens Floe, managing director of SCCT. "Winning the confidence of three of the world's biggest shipping lines will make SCCT the top container terminal in Egypt, the Middle East and soon the Mediterranean." Operated by APM Terminals, SCCT won a 49-year concession and began operation in 2004 over an area of 600,000 square metres. It is equipped to handle 2.55 million containers annually, and in three years has processed more than 4.3 million containers. The company hopes to win a concession to build the third phase of the terminal, over 450 metres of the port. Bigger building patch THE AREA for buildings in new industrial zones across the country increased from 50 to 65 per cent, according to a joint decision by Minister of Housing Ahmed El-Maghrabi and Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid. The maximum height for buildings was also raised from 12 metres to 15. The decision came in response to a new plan suggested by the Industrial Development Authority to unify the percentage of buildings in all new industrial zones. Rachid hopes the decision will positively attract foreign and local investments, with 2.5 million square metres expected to be added to building areas as a result of the new regulations. Dana strikes hydrocarbon A NEW gas and condensate discovery in the Dabayaa 1 exploration well in the West Manzala exploration concession was recently announced. The discovery was made by Centurion Petroleum Corporation, the upstream division of the largest private sector natural gas company in the Middle East, Dana Gas. The company has been carrying out an extensive exploration programme, which finally gave a production rate of 16.5 million cubic feet of gas per day (2,800 barrels of oil equivalent) and 330 barrels of condensate per day in the concession area. "We are very excited about this gas discovery which confirms our high expectations for the hydrocarbon potential in our concession area in the Nile Delta," said Rashid Saif Al-Jarwan, general manager of Dana Gas. The discovery is expected to open up more hydrocarbon prospects to be drilled in the same concession, he added. According to Hani El-Sharqawi, Dana Gas country director in Egypt, production from Dabayaa 1 is expected to commence this month. "The well is located only 6km away from our existing facilities, and we expect to complete the development of the new field soon to quickly bring the well to production," revealed El-Sharqawi. At least 64 companies are active in natural gas exploration and production in Egypt, which has doubled its total gas reserves in the last five years to reach around 70 trillion cubic feet. "It is expected that Dana Gas will drill a total of 12 exploration wells in Egypt before the end of 2007," added El-Sharqawi.
