CAIRO: Leading oil and gas company BP has said it has uncovered a large pocket of natural gas off Egypt's coast. Mike Daly, Executive Vice-President of exploration at BP, said in a press statement that the “the Hodoa discovery further demonstrates the great potential of the deep reservoirs in the Nile Delta.” Hesham Mekawi, president of BP in Egypt, added in the same statement that “this discovery further reinforces the leadership role played by BP in Egypt and its ongoing commitment towards the development of Egypt's future gas business.” BP is the largest foreign investor in Egypt's energy market. According to statistics available, BP and its partners currently produce 40 percent of Egypt's oil production and close to 35 percent of the domestic gas demand in Egypt. The West Nile Delta gas fields were highlighted by BP for project start-up activity in the period between 2012 and 2015 in its investor presentation last March. West Nile Delta gas exploration was also among the major investment areas for BP in 2010. In other natural gas-related BP news this week, its massive energy joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP, said on Monday that it planned to double natural gas production in the next 10 years. BP shares were up one percent on Wednesday morning, in line with the energy sector performance. BM
