Egypt said it would sell oil and gas exploration and production rights in twelve areas in the country’s south.

State-owned Ganoub el-Wadi Petroleum Company (Ganope) said on its website companies could buy information about the blocks, in the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, and the country’s eastern and western deserts, starting on 1 April.
Bids should be submitted by mid-July, Mohamed Ezat Sakr, Ganope’s vice chairman for exploration and production, told Reuters.
Prices for any gas discovered would be agreed between Ganope and the contractor after the discovery of the gas and based on market prices, Sakr said.
“Our gas or oil prices are directly linked to the spot market price,” Sakr said.
Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy has said the country plans to increase its oil output by 100,000 barrels per day to 800,000 bpd this year by developing recent discoveries in the Gulf of Suez and the western desert. Production has declined from peak levels of close to one million bpd in the mid-1990s.
Egypt has become a significant exporter of natural gas, both by pipeline through Jordan and in liquefied form by ship.

(Upstream Online)