Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla has initialled oil and gas exploration contracts with the companies that won the first international tender for offshore concessions in the Red Sea that was launched in March 2019.

The Minister said in a Wednesday statement that all oil exploration and production activities in southern Egypt continue normally according to the already announced timetables despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis.

He pointed out that the ministry is actively participating in implementing the vision of the political leadership for the development of southern Egypt through launching new projects in all petroleum fields, with the aim of putting the region on the map of oil investment. Moreover, the ministry accelerates efforts to deliver gas to houses in all areas of Upper Egypt. More than 137,025 housing units in Upper Egypt governorates were linked to the natural gas grid from July 2019 to April 2020.

A recently issued report on the situation of the activities of the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) revealed the company has 13 exploration agreements, five development deals, and a research and development contract. The company is also supervising 10 petroleum agreements with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation in the production stage, along with two other deals under creation.

The report pointed out that Ganope has contacted major international companies that showed interest in exploration in the Red Sea, and several virtual meetings were held with these companies to present local investment opportunities.

According to the report, the company has succeeded in increasing production rates from its concessions. Ganopes total production during the current fiscal year until the end of March exceeded 7m barrels of crude oil with daily production rate of 23,000 barrels. The total production of LPG reached 3,244 tonnes the same period, in addition to 1.8bn cubic feet of natural gas.

2020 Daily News Egypt. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

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