Egypt and Saudi oil ministers Tarek El Molla and Khalid al-Falih met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jordan this week to discuss boosting bilateral oil and gas cooperation. Topics discussed included operations in the Red Sea, where Egypt launched a bid round last month for 10 offshore blocks (MEES, 15 March). Saudi Arabia also announced last month that it would step up exploration in the Red Sea, with Mr Falih stating the region contains “large quantities” of gas (MEES, 8 March).
Mr Molla was very positive when asked by reporters following the meeting about the two countries cooperating in the region. “Yes definitely, we started already to talk with them in order to start having arrangements in place, that we can exchange data, what would be the potential discoveries stranded in the Red Sea,” he said. (CONTINUED - 188 WORDS)