ATHENS: Greek oil company Hellenic Petroleum said on Tuesday it had won a tender to explore for natural gas and oil in Egypt. State-owned Egypt General Petroleum Corporation informed us that the West Obayed area has been awarded to Hellenic Petroleum as the operator, Greece s largest refiner said in a statement. Hellenic Petrolum said the final agreement will be signed in Cairo this month. It did not provide financial details. Hellenic Petroleum s commitment for the first three years of the exploratory period in West Obayed includes carrying out seismic records and three exploratory drillings, it added. The company, which is mainly active in refining, has a joint venture with Austria s OMV to explore for hydrocarbons in Albania and with Australia s Woodside and Spanish Repsol for six onshore regions in Libya. The 1,841 square meter West Obayed area borders on the Obayed region where Royal Dutch Shell produces natural gas, Hellenic Petroleum said. Government officials have pegged Egypt s oil and gas reserves at 15.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, enough for 34 years production at current rates. Reuters
