By Ahmed Tolba
The latest bid round for hydrocarbon exploration issued by Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) saw 25 offers made for 15 blocks in the areas of Sinai, the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez, and Eastern Desert. EGPC granted 11 concessions out of the 15 initially offered.
The total volume of exploration investment is $282.3 million, of which $181 million will be made during the initial exploration phase and $109.4 million made upon signing, said the head of the EGPC, Hani Dahi. The number of exploratory wells in this bid round is 97; 54 of which are to be drilled during the initial exploration phase.
“Four new companies to the Egyptian market have won concessions in this bid round, namely: the Emirati Dragon Oil Holdings and Dove Energy; the Canadian TransGlobe Energy Corporation; and the Irish Petroceltic International,” said Dahi.
TransGlobe was granted four blocks, Royal Dutch Shell three blocks, and the Greek Vegas Oil, the American Apache Corporation, the German RWE DEA and the British Dana Petroleum were all issued a block each.
