Egypt expects foreign investors to pump $10 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country’s petroleum sector in FY 2018/19, oil minister Tarek El Molla told El Watan.

The minister said that the sector will see further investment in exploration, production, and field development.

He added that Egypt signed 91 agreements in the oil sector since 2014.

A press release said that the ministry is following an intense program to increase hydrocarbon productivity from the Western Desert by using the latest technologies for seismic surveys and offering more bid rounds.

Highlighting the Western Desert’s importance, El Molla said that the region produces around 57% of the country’s oil.

The ministry will announce the first exploration bid round in the Red Sea by the end of 2018, the minister previously said.