The Cabinet agreed to amend two existing oil and gas agreements with the UK’s BP and German RWE Dea AG, MENA reports.

The oil deal is with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and covers BP excavations in North Alexandria and east the Mediterranean Sea deep waters, and RWE Dea’s in the Western Nile Delta region.

The natural gas agreement is between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and RWE Dea for the Disouq region of the Nile Delta. This was during a meeting on December 18th. BP expected an increase of gas prices would allow for production in the North Alexandria project to begin by 2017.

The rise in prices comes as a result of the failure to link the project with production, stated a senior official at the Ministry of Petroleum to the Daily News Egypt. Under the stated agreement, the North Alexandria project is estimated to produce 450 mcf/d at start of production in 2017, with production reaching 800 mcf/d by 2018.

Other business that day included approving draft presidential decrees for ten new oil deals with EGPC and six with the EGAS.