Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received David Stover, chairperson and CEO of Noble Energy, a US-based natural gas exploration and production giant, on Monday, to discuss increasing the company’s activities in Egypt.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El-Molla, during which Stover praised Egypt’s ambitious economic development.
Stover emphasised the importance that Noble Energy attaches to Egypt, as the country offers promising opportunities for the energy sector, especially in light of the state’s great interest in the development of this vital sector.
He added that Egypt has all the prospects for having a booming energy industry such as the geographical location, oil and gas discoveries, advanced infrastructure of the gas pipeline network, liquefaction plants, and ongoing regional co-operation projects to link, transport, and liquefy gas.
Al-Sisi expressed his aspiration to strengthen the relation between Egypt and Noble energy in order to contribute toward the achievement of common development goals.
The president added that he will ensure full cooperation with Noble Energy will take place, and that any challenges that may face the company will be resolved, in order to continue to strengthen research, discovery, and production of natural gas efforts in Egypt.
In September 2018, Delek Drilling and Noble Energy—the operators of Israel’s largest natural gas fields Tamar and Leviathan—and the Egyptian company East Gas Co bought control of a pipeline to Egypt, paving the way for Israeli gas exports into Egypt.
The three companies signed a deal to buy 39% of shares in pipeline owner Eastern Mediterranean Gas Co, according to a statement released by Delek Drilling on Thursday. The buyers will pay $518m, with Delek and Noble contributing $185m each, and the remainder being paid by East Gas.
In February 2018 two 10-year agreements, worth $15bn, to export Israeli natural gas to Egypt were signed. The agreements between Delek Drilling and Noble Energy, and the Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings, will supply Egypt with 7bn cubic metres of gas annually.
