British Petroleum plans to invest as much as $5 billion in the Egyptian oil industry over the next five year, increasing the total value of the company’s investments in Egypt to $20 billion.
The British company’s plan was disclosed by Hisham Mekkawy, the general manager of BP in Egypt, during a meeting of the energy committee at the Egyptian Young Businessmen Association in Cairo on Monday evening.
“After 43 years of operation in the Egyptian energy industry, BP is now responsible for more than 40 per cent of the country’s total oil production, Mekkawy said.
He pointed out that BP investments in the local oil industry amounted to $15 billion, making the company the largest foreign investor in Egypt.
BP Egypt produces 100,000 barrels per day and 30 per cent of domestic natural gas consumption. The company’s oil fields are concentrated in the Gulf of Suez and Western Desert.
Egyptian oil and natural gas production amounted to 71 million tons in 2006, amid expectations that this would increase to 100 million tons over the next five years.
Mekkawy asserted that BP would invest the $5 billion in gas exploration and development efforts over the next five years and to increase its market share by development of recent discoveries in the Eastern Delta region.
