An official source at Sino Tharwa Drilling Company stated to Egypt Oil&Gas that the 1.5m acre project in West Minya has stopped temporarily until completing the transfer of the responsibilities of the project from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to the Egyptian Countryside Development Company.

A protocol was signed between the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to dig and set up 500 deep water wells in Western Minya with an average cost of EPG 1.125b. The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) assigned to Sino Tharwa Drilling Company the implementation of the project.

In addition, Sino Tharwa has recently contracted with the Egyptian Armed Forces to dig 15 water wells in Central Sinai at an estimated cost of  EGP 4,200 per meter.

Sino Tharwa  had been established in 2005 as a joint venture between Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum Company  and China’s Sinopec Star Petroleum Company.