CAIRO: Chairman of Gazprom s Management Committee Alexey Miller has expressed his company's interest in exploration for oil and natural gas in Egypt, according to Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy. Fahmy explained that during his meeting with Miller on Monday they agreed on the need for mutual cooperation in the oil and gas industry, including exploration, production, transportation and distribution of products. A joint action committee is expected to meet in Cairo soon to negotiate and decide on the first cooperation initiative and to establish an integrated program for implementation of joint projects. The minister ascribed the remarkable interest of Gazprom in the Egyptian market to sound probable reserves and high success rates in the exploration efforts for oil and gas in the Middle East region. He added that discussion with Gazprom focused on exchange of technical expertise, noting that the Russian company has extensive experiences and technologies that could help boost the Egyptian energy industry. A senior official at the Ministry of Petroleum emphasized that an agreement with Gazprom would help enhance cooperation between Russian and Egyptian businesses, citing the agreement signed last month with Novatech Company. Novatech signed an agreement with Egyptian Egas and Tharwa energy companies on mutual cooperation end of November 2006. The Russian company's annual production of natural gas amounts to nearly 25 billion cubic meters in addition to 2.6 million tons of crude and condensates. Gazprom also controls a large portion of Novatech.
