Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy on Monday said his ministry implemented a new system for deep water gas exploration by foreign companies. In accordance with the system's rules, the Egyptian government will not bear exploration costs, which are estimated at US$250 million per venture in deep waters. Government-guaranteed profit margins will offset increased costs borne by companies. “We have seen fierce competition from neighboring countries who offer high profits to foreign companies,” Fahmy said. “The new system will help expedite gas discoveries and subsequent supply to local markets,” he said, adding that the ministry aims to encourage investment in exploration and refineries in order to increase production. “We succeeded in generating investments worth US$23 billion in projects that will be implemented soon,” he said, explaining that total investments in the last ten years reached US$35 billion, resulting in 490 oil and gas discoveries. The minister also said that Egypt's crude oil production currently stands at two million barrels per day with an 18.4 billion barrel reserve. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
