UK trade envoy to meet Egypt’s oil minister today

Jeffrey Donaldson, UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s trade envoy to Egypt, will meet Thursday Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla to discuss British investments and future opportunities in Egypt’s energy sector.

Donaldson and El-Molla are joined by a number of leading British energy companies, including major long-term investors such as BP and BG as well as experts in industry supply chain services.

In advance of the meeting, Donaldson said: “With the discovery of the enormous Zohr gas field last year and Egypt’s booming energy needs, there has never been a more exciting nor a more important time for Egypt’s energy sector. British businesses must be partners of choice for Egypt’s energy future.

“Major British investors like BG and BP have been central to the development of Egypt’s energy industry. Not only that, but many smaller British companies have decades of experience from energy production in the UK’s North Sea, which could be transformational for Egypt’s future.”

Donaldson’s meeting with el-Molla follows his visit on Wednesday to BG’s world-class liquified natural gas plant at Idku, which is one of the most comprehensive complexes of infrastructure and gas processing facilities in the region.

BG and BP are two of Egypt’s most important long-term, committed investors. They have together invested almost $40 billion in developing Egypt’s energy sector.

BP’s $12 billion investment in the West Nile Delta project was the largest investment deal in Egypt’s history and the project is expected to produce the equivalent of 25 percent of Egypt’s current gas supply.