BP acquired 50% of the exploration rights of the EGY-MED-E5 concession area, equally with Italy’s Eni, the operator of the concession area, which “reflects and reaffirms our commitment to invest in developing and finding new gas supplies for Egypt,” Karim Alaa, Regional President of BP North Africa, said.

“We’ve invested billions of dollars in building facilities and infrastructure over the years and this acreage ties in well with our resilient and focused gas strategy which aims to pursue development opportunities in proximity to our existing infrastructure, or to the infrastructure of our partners, which is likely to take less time and cost less to bring it online,” Alaa added.

The company won the exploration rights in this concession area following its successful participation in the first digital global bid for gas exploration and exploitation in the Mediterranean, according to Al Ahram Newspaper.

The bid round had previously been announced by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) in 2021.

The concession is located about 130 km northeast of Port Said, and the concession area is about 3,200 square kilometers at a depth ranging between 500 and 1,200 meters.

A week earlier, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla announced the results of the first international digital bid round for oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) in the Mediterranean, Western Desert, and the Gulf of Suez.