AOC, Japan's Arabian Oil Company, announced its second delay for crude oil production from Egypt’s offshore Northwest October block in the northern Gulf of Suez.

AOC said it would not start before May 2012.

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has a 50% stake in the block and AOC holds the remainder.

An official at AOC, the parent of oil and gas development unit Arabian Oil Company, said the firm expects the output to reach 6,000 barrels per day.