Egypt has signed Thursday five oil and gas exploration deals worth around $2.2 billion with Italian energy giant Eni. The deals signed Thursday are the outcome of the March conference, read a statement by the ministry of petroleum. The biggest deal was for exploration in the Gulf of Suez and Nile Delta with an investment of US$1.5 billion; the second was in northern Port Said in the Mediterranean with a minimum investment of US$500 million. In collaboration with Eni, French oil company Engie will be exploring in the Ashrafi zone in the Gulf of Suez with an investment of US$40 million. British Petroleum will join Eni for exploration in the Balteem area of the Mediterranean with an investment of US$80 million. US-based oil company Apache also signed a US $30 million deal on Thursday with Egypt's General Petroleum Corporation to explore Oum Baraka area in the Western Desert. Eni discovered Egypt's biggest gas field in August, in the Zohr block, with reserves of up to 30 trillion cubic feet. Egypt and Eni had in July signed an update to the head of agreement reached in March, following the discovery of gas reserves of up to 15 billion cubic metres in Egypt's Nile Delta region. Source: Ahram Online
