Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla announced that the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has launched the first international bid round of its kind for the development of brownfields through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG).

The bid round includes eight producing fields in the Gulf of Suez and the Eastern Desert. Two of the fields are under the supervision of the Suez Oil Company (SUCO) and five are being supervised by the Offshore Shukheir Oil Company (OSOCO). There is also one brownfield within the Eastern Desert’s Wadi El Sahl Development Area.

The minister elaborated that this bid round was done for the first time after studies confirmed that there are quantities of crude oil within these brownfields. He highlighted the interest of the petroleum sector in attracting research, production and service companies to conduct their activities in these fields by deploying the latest technologies.

El Molla pointed out that these fields are an attractive investment opportunity in the current market climate, which faces the challenge of high global prices, highlighting that these fields will encourage companies to invest in onsite development and production work.