The Ministry of Petroleum will open bidding for exploration and production (E&P) contracts in the Red Sea within the coming two weeks, Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla has announced, Amwal Al Ghad reported.

The minister’s announcement came during his speech at the Al Ahram Energy Conference, entitled ‘ Future Energy & Sustainable Development (Egypt Vision 2030)’.

The tender was first announced in October by the petroleum minister, who said that the government was waiting for the completion of Schlumberger and Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Company’s (Ganope) 10,000-km2 seismic survey before opening the bids.

Ganope organized a workshop on November 19 in preparation for the tender. Participants discussed ways of promoting E&P investment opportunities in the Red Sea through highlighting geological and rock formations, and petroleum reservoirs.