The results of an oil and gas bid round launched in September 2011 by state owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation will be announced soon almost 7 months since the closing date.

An EGPC official said that the closing date for bids had been pushed from January 30 to March 29 to allow more international companies to participate. But winners of the concessions have yet to be announced.

An EGPC official said that some 25 bids have been received from international oil firms for 15 concessions including firms that have not operated in Egypt before. The delay has been mostly due to the time it takes to evaluate the bids and also because we have to have all the necessary approvals from various bodies of government for newcomers.

Mr Mahmoud Nazeem senior oil ministry official said that the results would be announced in two weeks. We can't say exactly two weeks because its not up to us after we take a decision we wait on several approvals from several agencies but I can say the result will be soon."

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 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 November 14th 2012.

Source - Reuters

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