Egypt to start 11-bln-USD project of gas drilling

Egypt will start a gas exploration project in the Mediterranean Sea, which is expected to cost 11 billion U.S. dollars and produce 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day after finished, official al-Ahram newspaper reported Tuesday. "The project will be executed with investments up to 11 billion U.S. dollars and will take about four or five years," Egyptian Oil Minister Osama Kamal was quoted as saying on Monday. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil met Monday with the executive manager of British oil company BP, which has won the project tender, to discuss the project's details. "The project will offer 5,000 job vacancies and will afford 20 percent of Egypt's gas production," BP CEO Robert Dudley said, adding that the new project will also help to develop areas near the drilling zone.