Energy group DEA said on Tuesday it would receive a payment of all Egypt’s debt arears as promised in late 2019.
The Hamburg-based company has confirmed its commitment to invest nearly $500 million in developing its oilfields in Egypt over the next three years, its chief executive office Maria Moraeus Hanssen said following her meeting with Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla in Cairo.
DEA has around 17.5 percent working interest in West Nile Delta, with BP being the operator and owner of the remaining share, Hanssen said, adding the company has no plans to increase its share in the current phase.
In the next two years, Egypt will begin exporting gas as soon as it becomes self-sufficient, Hanssen forecasted, saying DEA studies helping the North African country in the exporting process.
DEA has been involved in exploration and development for oil and gas in Egypt since 1974. It has produced more than 650 million barrels of crude oil in the Gulf of Suez during the last three decades. The production is operated by the Suez Oil Company (SUCO), DEA’s joint venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). The German company is a partner of BP in the West Nile Delta gas fields.
