Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has signed an agreement with Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI SpA), an Italian multinational company, to boost oil and gas production. Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi announced the deal on Wednesday.
The agreement was signed during a joint negotiation session in New Alamein City with Martina Opizzi, Head of North Africa and Levant Region at ENI. They agreed to intensify ENI’s exploratory and excavation activities, develop fields in their concession areas in Egypt, and increase the number of excavators.
They also agreed to leverage Egypt’s status as a regional energy trading hub by receiving gas from ENI’s fields in the Eastern Mediterranean and exporting it through Egypt’s existing facilities.
The meeting discussed the positive outcomes and implemented the agreements made during Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s meeting with Opizzi at the recent Egyptian-European Investment Conference.
Badawi highlighted ENI’s long history of working in Egypt and its many successes and investment opportunities. He emphasized that the agreement will significantly boost activities, raising investment and production rates.
Egypt has been suffering from gas shortages, leading to power cuts across the country. However, governmental efforts have been made to eradicate this problem.
On 2 July, Egypt received the first of 21 LNG shipments at the Ain Sokhna terminal, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The 3.5 million cubic feet of LNG will be converted to natural gas within the week to stabilize the energy supply and end power cuts.
This series of shipments aims to secure Egypt’s energy needs over the summer, stated ministry spokesman Hamdy Abdel-Aziz.
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