Reuters: BG in Advanced Talks with BP Over Egypt Deal

British gas company BG is in advanced talks that could boost supplies to power-hungry Egypt by allowing rival BP to use its pipelines, the head of BG Egypt told Reuters.

A deal could enable BG to raise production at its Egyptian operations, which account for about one-fifth of its global gas output but have been hit hard by the turmoil that followed the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The companies are in talks to link their gas developments off Egypt's north coast by routing around 350 million cubic feet of gas a day from two undeveloped BP fields into BG's under-used WDDM offshore pipeline network.

"We've been having discussions with BP at a fairly advanced stage. I am sure the agreement will be signed in due course," BG Egypt President Arshad Sufi said, adding a deal would be "for everybody’s benefit." MORE