French Total, Italian ENI’s Egyptian subsidiary IEOC, and UK’s BP have started an oil and gas exploration program in the North El Hammad block, located in the conventional offshore of the Mediterranean Sea, reported Amwal Al Ghad.

The exploration program aims to explore more fields in the area in order to increase Egypt’s oil and natural gas domestic production.

Natural gas and oil exploration programmes implemented by international companies encourage foreign investments in the sector, stated the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek el-Molla, during his meeting with Total E&P Egypt’s Managing Director, Jean-Pascal Clémençon, and Total’s Vice President of North Africa Region, Elias Kassis. El Molla added that the projects increase Egypt’s reserves and resources of gas in the coming period.

In December 2016, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources signed three deals on exploration and production of oil and gas with France’s Total, Britain’s BP, and Italian oil major ENI’s Egyptian subsidiary IEOC.