by Rania Saad and Yasmine Fouda
BP to begin north Alexandria natural gas output in early 2017: Minister
British oil major BP will begin production of natural gas at its north Alexandria concession in early 2017 rather than mid-2017, Egypt’s petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said at a news conference on Saturday.
The offshore concession’s output will be roughly “450 million cubic feet per day in 2017 and reach 1.2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2019,” said El Molla.
These volumes will mean a significant boost to gas production in Egypt, a country that has been searching for ways to plug acute energy shortages that have slowed production at many of the country’s energy-intensive industries.
BP also said this week it had been awarded three new offshore exploration blocks in Egypt and that it and its partners had committed to investment of $229 million.
Egyptian authorities have in recent months worked to improve terms for foreign oil and gas businesses in the hope that more competitive pricing will encourage investment in the energy-hungry country.
Once an energy exporter, falling oil and gas production coupled with rising consumption have forced Egypt to divert supplies to the domestic market and it is now a net energy importer.
Ministry of Finance lunches new projects in private sector
The partnership unit with the private sector launched its 3rd International Conference, announcing 20 projects in IT, transport, industry, energy and infra structure. The projects include building innovation centres for technology transfer, as well as, 4 stadiums in Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Matrouh and Luxor.
$2.13 billion projects with the European Investment Bank
Dr. Sahar Nasr, Ministry of International Cooperation announced an agreement with the European Investment Bank for financing the third stage of metro tunnels with 200 million euros, as well as an electricity power stations in Damnahour at $10 billion (The bank will share with $600 million in financing this project). It is expected that the bank’s total investments will be equivalent to $2.13 billion.
Investments Up to $12 Billion at the Matrouh Economic Conference
The “Matrouh Future Investment” Conferences ended with success, with Egyptian & Arab Investors yielding a $12.00 Billion worth of investments, as confirmed by the Middle East Observer last week for projects ranging from the Matrouh port, Animal production, Cement factories as well as Mineral & Fish wealth projects. As for the Dabaa Nuclear project, General Allaa About-Zeid, Governor of Marsa Matrouh stated that the Russian Company to manage the project will receive the site within 20 days to start setting its plan & operation.
