17-08-09 Egypt has signed agreements for oil and natural gas exploration that are expected to bring in new investments of $ 2.3 bn, an official at the Oil Ministry said.
"Of the total, five are extensions and amendments to already existing deals and one is a completely new deal," the official told.

The deals were signed with BP, IEOC, a unit of Italy's ENI and Egyptian firm Tharwa for exploration in the Eastern Desert, Nile Delta, Gulf of Suez and North Sinai. The agreements include an exploration deal signed between the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and BP and IEOC worth $ 1.1 bn and another signed between the same three partners worth $ 900 mm.
The new deal, with Tharwa, is for exploration over an area of 43 sq km (16.6 sq mile) in the Eastern Desert, together with Ganoub el-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company, and is worth $ 17.5 mm.