The Ministry of Petroleum signed an exploration and production (E&P) agreement with DEA for the Ras Budran and El Zeit Bay oil fields in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The agreement was signed by Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla; head of the Egyptian Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Abed Ezz El Regal; and DEA Egypt’s General Manager, Sameh Sabry, with the aim to conduct development programs with minimum investments of $20 million to boost oil production.

“The new agreement extends the concession for five years ending mid-2022. It includes an optional extension of another five years until 2027, subject to mutual agreement,” the company said in a statement.

According to the agreement, DEA will be committed to drilling activities, developing facilities, and operating and maintaining the factory responsible for extracting butane from the company’s fields in the Gulf of Suez.

“I am delighted that we managed to agree on a concession extension. DEA has been active offshore in the Gulf of Suez for more than 40 years. The fields are valuable assets in DEA’s Egyptian portfolio and we see upside potential in these mature oil fields,” Sabry said.

The development efforts exerted by the oil and gas sector succeeded in creating an attractive investment climate, Sabry commented, adding that DEA injected around $800 million in the fields of Gulf of Suez, Desouq, and North Alexandria during 2017 and 2018.

DEA plans to invest around $700 million during the upcoming three years, of which around $225 million is set to be invested in the Gulf of Suez alone, Sabry noted.