A press release to Egypt Oil&Gas stated that the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, visited Khalda Petroleum’s concessions in the Western Desert, accompanied by the Ministry’s First Undersecretary for Oil and Gas Affairs, First Undersecretary for Agreements and Exploration, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)’s CEO and Vice Chairman, the Egyptian National Gas Holding Company (EGAS)’ CEO and Vice Chairman, and Apache’s CEO.

During the visit, El Molla pointed out the measures taken to encourage international oil companies (IOCs) to boost investments in the country. The measures included modifying prices in the agreements to be economic for both parties, and paying arrears to IOCs.

Khlada Petroleum’s CEO, Khaled Mowafy, reviewed the production rates and stated that the company produces crude oil, condensates and natural gas from 16 concessions, adding that the company is keen to boost production, increase reserves, and optimize costs through adopting a group of health, safety, and environmental (HSE) measures.

Khalda made eight new petroleum discoveries in fiscal year 2016/2017 with 62% success. The discoveries included Menis, East-Scorpion, Bravo, and West-Heroniver. The discoveries added new reserves estimated at more thab 3m barrels of crude oil. Mowafy stated that Khalda Petroleum’s total production reached 45.2m barrels of crude oil and condensates, 500,000 barrels of butane, and 248bcf of natural gas.