Egypt To Announce Oil Bid Round Results By Mid-Oct

The results of an oil and gas bid round launched in September 2011 by state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) will be announced by mid-October, the petroleum minister said on Wednesday.

An official earlier said 25 bids were received by the March 29 closing date, but the results have still to be announced.

Asked on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cairo when the results would be announced, Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal told reporters: “Within two weeks.”

EGPC was offering 15 blocks located in the Gulf of Suez, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert and Sinai sedimentary basins. There were three offshore blocks in the Gulf of Suez on offer and 12 onshore.

Another state-owned firm, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), launched a bid round in June for 15 exploration blocks in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta basins. Only two of those concessions are onshore, while the rest are all offshore. The closing date for that tender is Nov. 14.
Reuters