The Egyptian authorities have given the green light to Japanese outfit AOC Holdings plans to buy a 90% stake in the South Zeit Bay oilfield, in the Gulf of Suez, from Switzerland’s Alexoil.
AOC oil and gas development unit Arabian Oil bought the stake and is scheduled to complete test drilling to confirm oil and gas reserves in December, the company said in a statement.
AOC Holdings expects to spend a total of around 2 billion yen ($17 million) on the deal and the drilling, a spokesman said.
The sale lowered Alexoil’s stake in the field to 10%, he said. A
rabian Oil has confirmed 4900 barrels per day of oil output from the Northwest October Block in the northern Gulf of Suez and is currently in talks with Egypt about development.
Arabian Oil is targeting the start of commercial production in the first quarter of 2009, the spokesman told Reuters.

(Upstream Online)