Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla has reviewed Rashid Petroleum Company’s (Rashpetco) work on the phase 9B development project in the Mediterranean, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The minister discussed the project with Sami Iskander, Shell’s executive vice president, and Gasser Hanter, Shell Egypt’s vice president upstream, country chair and managing director.

The phase 9B project site last week received the NGT1 drilling rig from the Gulf of Mexico.

Drilling began in the project according to the program, which includes the drilling of 10 wells at the cost of more than $800 million. The company plans to start the production of the first three wells during the 2018/19 financial year.

El Molla also discussed Edison’s Egyptian operations with the company’s executive vice president of the exploration and production division, Nicola Monti, and the general manager of the Egypt branch, Nicolas Katcharov

The meeting confirmed that Edison’s seismic exploration and geological interpretations have been completed and the company is currently in the process of evaluating information and geological studies in preparation for drilling the first well in the North Thekah concession.

The geological structures at North Thekah, which lies adjacent to the Zohr field, have showed signs of good gas potential.

The meetings took place on the sidelines of the annual Mediterranean Offshore Conference and Exhibition (MOC 2018).