The Egyptian government settled a $1.3 billion payment as part of the dues owed to foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country by the end of last June.
The Italian company Eni intends to increase natural gas production in Egypt by about 200 million cubic feet per day next January, according to a government official who spoke to Asharq Bloomberg.
To achieve this goal, the company will drill 3 new wells in the deep-water Zohr field in the Mediterranean, at a cost estimated at more than $300 million.
This came in line with the visit of the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, to Italy yesterday to discuss ways to enhance the mutual cooperation between Egypt and Eni.
During the visit, they agreed to accelerate the implementation of development works at the Zohr field, by starting the drilling of 3 new wells next week, connecting them to production.
Additionally, the Egyptian government will pay the monthly dues in return for the partner’s share, in addition to settling the overdue debts according to the agreed schedule.
The Egyptian government settled a $1.3 billion payment as part of the dues owed to foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country by the end of last June.
In August, The International Monetary Fund that the dues of foreign companies operating in the field of oil and gas exploration and extraction with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation reached around $5 billion.
The Egyptian government aims to increase natural gas production rates by the end of 2024 to around 5 billion cubic feet per day, compared to approximately 4.6 billion cubic feet currently.
