Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Company (Ganope) chooses to resort to the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) in case of any disputes over its exploration and production (E&P) bid round launched on March 10th, Al Borsa News reported.

Companies will have to submit their offers maximum by August 1st, 2019. Meanwhile, the designated agreement will have certain terms and conditions.

According to the agreement, exploration will not exceed nine years, and the first E&P phase will be divided into five years of exploration and four years of development. Yet, the companies will have the right to give up their blocks anytime.

The Ministry of Petroleum will be entitled to take away the awarded block if the foreign partner does not provide a development plan in two years of the discovery date.

Foreign partners have to achieve commercial production within four years of the issuance date. If the partner did not achieve commercial production, the ministry will have the right to take away the block or renew the period by maximum 30 years divided into five years per renewal.

Development in the Red Sea has been known to take around 20 years from the agreement’s issuance date.