Offshore round turns up a mxed bag for Egypt

摘要

EGYPT'S latest offshore round fell short of expectations, with most of the blocks on offer snubbed by suitors wary of taking the plunge into the uncharted depths of the Mediterranean Sea. It did, however, make a splash with US supermajor ExxonMobil being lured into its offshore debut in Egypt, keeping alive the country's dream of rejoining the ranks of major gas exporters. State-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) also breathed a sigh of relief as Shell made a strong comeback to the offshore sector after years of absence. Having added the world's two most formidable publicly traded oil giants to its arsenal, Egypt's upstream sector is set for a renewed deep-water exploration push.