Shell, partners sign agreement to develop 10th phase of Egyptian Mediterranean gas concession

Ahram Online , Thursday 6 Jul 2023

Shell's Egypt unit, BG Delta Limited, and its partners signed an agreement with two Egyptian state-owned energy companies and Malaysia's Petronas to develop the 10th phase of an offshore concession in the Mediterranean, read a statement on Thursday.

Mediterranean offshore gas well. Ahram Gate.

Egypt's signatories are the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).

Under the agreement, BG Delta and its partners, Petronas, EGAS, and EGPC will start the development of the 10th phase in Egypt’s Nile Delta offshore West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) concession in the Mediterranean Sea.

The drilling activities will start after receiving the regulatory approvals and are expected to start in late 2023, according to a press release by Shell.

Shell and its partners developed the WDDM concession across nine development phases. The concession comprises 17 gas fields, located at water depths ranging from 300 metres to 1,200 metrrs and spanning 90-120 kilometres from the shore.

WDDM is operated by Burullus Gas Company, which will also operate the development of the 10th phase of the concession.

Burullus Gas is a joint venture of BG Delta (25 percent), EGPC (50 percent) and US' Edison International (25 percent).

On Tuesday, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla announced that Egypt plans to dig 35 new exploratory natural gas wells in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta by 2025 with $1.8 billion in investments.