Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla held on Wednesday talks with president of the US Apex International Energy company Thomas Maher over the West Badr El-Din and South East Meleiha concessions in Egypt s Western Desert.
APEX won a seismic exploration tender at the West Badr El-Din (4,180 sq km) and South East Meleiha (2,535 sq km) concessions as part of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) 2016 bidding round.
The company will drill nine exploratory wells at investments of $51.1 million.
In a statement, Molla said the concession agreements come as part of the ministry s efforts to lure global companies to explore petroleum and natural gas to increase the country s oil production and reserves and turn Egypt into an international energy hub.
A delegation from the Blue Water Energy company attended the talks.
Maher said that partnership between Apex and Blue Water Energy will certainly contribute to boosting Apex s activities in the Western Desert concessions.
