Egypt, Foreign Oil Exploration Companies Sign 12 Treaties Despite COVID-19 - Oil Minister

Egypt, Foreign Oil Exploration Companies Sign 12 Treaties Despite COVID-19 - Oil Minister

Egypt has concluded a total of 12 new agreements with international gas and oil exploration companies, including those that operated in the country for the first time, despite the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla said on Wednesday

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2020) Egypt has concluded a total of 12 new agreements with international gas and oil exploration companies, including those that operated in the country for the first time, despite the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla said on Wednesday.

"Despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Egypt has managed over the proceeding months to conclude 12 new oil and gas exploration contracts with a number of the largest companies operating in Egypt for the first time, such as Chevron and ExxonMobil, along with existing ones � British Petroleum, Shell and Total," the minister said, as quoted by Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper.

The minister added that such results show the success of the work of the Cairo-initiated Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), established as an intergovernmental organization in late September with the participation of Greece, Israel, Jordan, Italy, Cyprus and Palestine. The main EMGF goal is to create a regional gas market that meets the needs of the member states by ensuring oil supply and demand.

El Molla noted that Egypt sees the EMGF as a platform for attracting investments from the largest international oil companies.

The program of payments to foreign partners, which Egypt has been implementing over the past five years, has become one of the most significant tools that help the North African country attract investments, according to El Molla. With its help, the country has managed to reduce the payment amount accumulated over the previous years from $6.3 billion to $850 million.

Cairo has made efforts to change investment legislation and implement the leading program for infrastructure expansion, the minister said, noting that such a step is considered to be key, as it allows Egypt to encourage investments, with the total over the past four years amounting to $30 billion.