Egypt has begun a $1.8 billion programme to drill natural gas exploration wells in the Mediterranean Sea and Nile Delta, petroleum minister Tarek El Molla told UAE state news agency WAM on Tuesday.

The programme is in cooperation with Eni, Chevron , ExxonMobil, Shell and BP. The aim is to drill 35 exploration wells within two years, 21 in the current 2023/2024 financial year and 14 in the next year, El Molla told WAM on the sidelines of an OPEC seminar in Vienna.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah Editing by David Goodman)