CAIRO: Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy announced Tuesday that the world s second biggest oil firm BP had discovered more than one trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mediterranean. The discovery was made 668 meters (2,250 feet) below sea level north of Alexandria by BP Egypt and is equivalent to half of Egypt s annual gas consumption, the ministry said in a statement. The British oil giant, which boasts of being the single largest foreign investor in Egypt, was not immediately available for comment. Through its partnership with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, BP is responsible for around 40 percent of the country s oil and gas production. Egypt, a major regional producer, exports liquefied natural gas mainly to Europe and the United States and natural gas by pipeline to Jordan. Fahmy said he hoped the deep water discovery would further attract foreign investors. Seventy trillion of Egypt s estimated 100-120 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves lie in deep water, which would rank Egypt second in the world in terms of potential deep water gas reserves. Egypt exported 10.6 billion dollars of oil, gas and petrochemicals in 2006.
