Bapecto and Khaleda Petroleum plan on drilling three horizontal wells in the Apollonia field in the Western Desert, reported Al-Borsa. This is to produce natural gas from the layers of limestone characterized by low porosity and permeability, utilizing hydraulic fracturing.

Egypt has set the price of shale gas expected to be extracted from a recent concession to foreign firms at $5.45 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), an official at the oil ministry said on Monday.