Egypt Awards First Oil Licences Since Revolution
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Royal Dutch Shell, RWE and TransGlobe Energy have won concessions in Egypt's first licensing round since the 2011 revolution as international oil firms bet that current payment difficulties can be overcome.
Egypt's cash-strapped government owed foreign energy producers at least $3 billion in September, industry sources said, raising doubts about future investment in the oil sector.
"We had a total of 15 blocks but we only received offers for 11 of them and so that is what ended up being awarded," an official from the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation which offered the blocks, told Reuters.
The official declined to be named.
The biggest winners were Canada's TransGlobe with four concessions and Royal Dutch Shell with three concessions including one via an Egyptian joint venture, the companies said.
"We are continuing to invest and Egypt is continuing to find ways to make payments to us," said Albert Gress, vice president of business development at TransGlobe Energy, on the sidelines of the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit in Vienna.
He added that the company could start producing in the new blocks in 2014.
The EGPC official confirmed the TransGlobe and Shell awards and added that RWE, Dana Petroleum and Greece's Vegas were also awarded one block each.
The companies had said a joint venture between Dana Petroleum, Petroceltic International and Beach Petroleum were awarded a licence.
The results for the EGPC tender come around seven months after the closing date for bids. That date had been delayed to March 29 from January 30 to allow more companies to take part in the tender
The EGPC official had said a total of 25 offers were received for the various blocks.
Another state-owned firm, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said on Tuesday it had postponed by three months the closing date for international companies to present bids for its 15 oil and gas concessions on offer.
The deadline was pushed back to February 13 from November 14 with the oil minister citing weak interest as one of the reasons for the delay.
"We had a total of 15 blocks but we only received offers for 11 of them and so that is what ended up being awarded," an official from the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation which offered the blocks, told Reuters.
The official declined to be named.
The biggest winners were Canada's TransGlobe with four concessions and Royal Dutch Shell with three concessions including one via an Egyptian joint venture, the companies said.
"We are continuing to invest and Egypt is continuing to find ways to make payments to us," said Albert Gress, vice president of business development at TransGlobe Energy, on the sidelines of the North Africa Oil and Gas Summit in Vienna.
He added that the company could start producing in the new blocks in 2014.
The EGPC official confirmed the TransGlobe and Shell awards and added that RWE, Dana Petroleum and Greece's Vegas were also awarded one block each.
The companies had said a joint venture between Dana Petroleum, Petroceltic International and Beach Petroleum were awarded a licence.
The results for the EGPC tender come around seven months after the closing date for bids. That date had been delayed to March 29 from January 30 to allow more companies to take part in the tender
The EGPC official had said a total of 25 offers were received for the various blocks.
Another state-owned firm, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said on Tuesday it had postponed by three months the closing date for international companies to present bids for its 15 oil and gas concessions on offer.
The deadline was pushed back to February 13 from November 14 with the oil minister citing weak interest as one of the reasons for the delay.
