BP to begin $10 million Egyptian gas project

Energy giant BP will begin works on a deep-water natural gas production project in Egypt's Mediterranean basin next week, according to a report on Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website. Robert Dudley, chief executive of the British oil conglomerate met with Egypt's president, prime minister and petrol minister on Monday. He later announced the company will invest $10 billion in Egypt over the coming five years. BP's offshore project is expected to add 20 per cent to Egypt's natural gas production. Dudley added that the fresh investment could create up to 5,000 job opportunities in Egypt. BP Egypt announced on 26 August two new discoveries in Egypt's Nile Delta. They marked the fourth and fifth discoveries made by BP in the concession, following Satis-1 and Satis-3 Oligocene deep discoveries and Salmon-1 shallow Pleistocene discovery. Egypt is one of the top gas producers in the Middle East and the largest in Africa, providing exports to Europe, Japan, Korea, Jordan and until recently, Israel. Egypt's proven gas reserves sit at 77 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), an increase from 2010 estimates of 58.5 Tcf and the third highest in Africa, after Nigeria and Algeria, according to the US Energy Information Administration. From ahramonline