MILAN: Italian energy major ENI said Tuesday it would invest $3.0 billion (€2.0 billion) in Egypt over the next two years, ramping up operations there in the wake of a popular revolution.
ENI said in a statement that its chief operations officer Claudio Descalzi had met Egyptian Oil Minister Abdallah Ghorab in Cairo "to support the renewed commitment of ENI towards exploration and development activities."
President Hosni Mubarak resigned in February after a wave of popular protests against his long rule.
ENI said it would step up its activities in the Western Desert, the Mediterranean and the Sinai including with "the drilling of additional wells and the acceleration of production from new discoveries."
The Italian company said it would also drill 12 exploratory wells.
ENI is the biggest foreign energy producer in Egypt with daily production of around 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, including the share produced by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).