Egypt Approves Opening of Bids for Shale Gas Licences in Western Desert

Egypt has granted approval for opening of bids for exploration of shale gas in four areas in the Western Desert, according to an EGAS official.

Daily News Egypt reported that the project will be offered in a special bid by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), due to EGPC’s jurisdiction in the Western Desert.

EGPC will decide on a date for the bid.

The EGAS official told Daily News Egypt that the areas to be included in the bid include sites where Shell and Apache are conducting shale gas production trials in the Western Desert. 

Egypt is looking to expore for shale gas from the Western Desert in order to augment its domestic gas supplies amid rising deamnd.

The North African nation produces around 4.75bn cubic feet of gas per day while actual demand is approximately 6bn cubic feet per day.