Egypt has pushed back the deadline of two currently ongoing bid rounds to 16 July in an effort to drum up more interest. The first bid round, launched by state gas firm EGAS in January for six onshore Nile Delta and six offshore Mediterranean blocks was originally due to close on 1 June this year (MEES, 6 January). Cairo will be keen to garner as much interest as possible here with output from the region continuing to experience a worrying decline (MEES, 26 May).
The second bid round, launched in March by state oil firm EGPC, and heralded as the first of its kind in Egypt included eight ‘brownfields’ located in the Gulf of Suez region and had been due to close on 15 June (MEES, 3 March). “The new closing date will give an opportunity to obtain more offers for the two bid rounds,” Cairo says. It remains unclear if this will have any impact on Egypt’s plans to launch further bid rounds this year (MEES, 24 February). (CONTINUED - 163 WORDS)