Oil found in Western Desert

ZAGREB: Croatia s oil concern INA and a production unit of the German utility firm RWE announced on Tuesday an oil discovery in Egypt s Western Desert. The newly discovered oilfield will be put into production during 2007 and by 2010 the whole concession area should be put into full production, INA said in the statement through the Zagreb bourse. INA and RWE s production unit RWE-Dea jointly got the East Yidma concession for an oil exploration in 2002. Estimated daily volumes of oil amount to 3,000 bbl of high quality low sulphur crude oil, the statement said. The East Yidma concession area is a venue of the Battle of El-Alamein, one of the most famous battles in World War Two on the African soil. INA, which is 51-percent owned by the state and 25-percent by Hungary s MOL, is involved in gas and oil exploration and drilling in the Middle East and Africa and is the dominant retailer in Croatia. It also has two refineries. The government listed 17 percent of INA in Zagreb and London last month. The shares were quoted at 2,330 kuna ($411.9) in late afternoon Zagreb trade, or 0.43 percent up from Monday.