The Egyptian state-owned company EGPC, operator BP and RWE Dea have signed the relevant agreements, which had previously been approved by the Egyptian Parliament.
With reserves of more than 50 billion cubic metres of natural gas (RWE Dea share), the fields in the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deep Water concessions are among the largest in RWE Dea’s portfolio, the company said.
Thomas Rappuhn, CEO of RWE Dea, said: “Our aim is to proceed with this field development at a rapid pace, so that we can go into production by 2014.
“Amongst other field development projects of RWE Dea, such as Breagh in the UK and Gjoa in Norway, North Alexandria will make a substantial contribution to the company’s growth target, which is to double production over the next five years.”
The North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deep Water concessions are located in the offshore region of the West Nile Delta, some 40km off the coast of Egypt. The concession includes the Raven natural gas fields in the high-temperature and high-pressure depth domain, which extends into the West Mediterranean Deep Water concession.
Most of the total investment for the field development in the order of $9bn will be spent in the North Alexandria concession. BP (the operator with a 60% stake) and RWE Dea (40% stake) will split the total investment accordingly.
During the plateau phase starting 2015, more than three billion cubic metres of gas (RWE Dea share) will be produced annually. Planning provides for a production period of about 20 years in the first phase. Development of further natural gas potential including already discovered gas volumes within the concession areas will take place in a second phase.
