Egypt signed an oil and gas agreement with Italy’s Edison worth $86m to explore and produce oil and natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to $1.5m signing bonus for drilling 2 new wells , reported Al Borsa.

The agreement was signed by the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)’s CEO, Mohamed El Masry, and Vice President for Edison’s E&P activities for Egypt and the Middle East, Maurizio Coratella, reported Ahram Newspaper.

El Molla stated that the ministry concluded all the agreements that were reached through the latest international bid issued by EGAS. He added that the ministry is going about its strategy to expand oil and gas exploration and develop Egypt’s petroleum resources. Additionally it eyes signing more agreements which will boost global investments in Egypt as EGAS plans to issue a new bid within 2017.

In related news, an official at EGAS had stated to Egypt Oil&Gas that EGAS had awarded three new concession agreements to Italian Eni’s Egyptian joint venture, International Egyptian Oil Company (IOEC), UK’s BP, and French Total to operate in the North El Hammad, North El Tabya Offshore, and North Ras El Esh areas. The deals were worth $220m in total investments.