Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on Saturday said that the new maritime border demarcation agreement with Greece would allow for more bids to be launched regarding oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean.
The ministry’s spokesperson Hamdy Abdel-Aziz said that Egypt and Greece are members in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, which will be leveled into an international organization.
During a phone-in with Ahmed Moussa’s TV show “Ala Massoulity” (By My Responsibility), Abdel-Aziz stated that had the borders not been demarcated, Egypt would not have been able to conduct oil explorations.
He explained that the border demarcation process grants the government the right to launch international bids such as the demarcation of maritime borders with Cyprus, after which Egypt was able to launch global bids in the economic zone which led to the discovery of the Zohr field.
The volume of gas reserves in the Mediterranean is 300 trillion cubic feet, Aziz added, stressing that international expertise confirms that the Mediterranean’s waters are rich in petroleum products.
Egypt and Greece signed an agreement on Thursday to define an exclusive economic zone between them.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between Egypt and Greece covers a region that is part of the Turkish continental shelf.
It added that Turkey considers this agreement a violation of Libyan maritime rights as well.
The UAE and Bahrain on Friday welcomed the agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between Egypt and Greece, establishing an exclusive economic zone between them.
