Investment firm Carlyle Group plans to make significant investments in Egypt's oil and gas industry to boost domestic production and turn Egypt into an energy hub in the Mediterranean.
Executives from Carlyle met this week in Egypt with Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, to discuss the investment firm's plans for Egypt and the Mediterranean after Carlyle announced an acquisition of assets in the region last week.
Carlyle said a week ago that it had agreed to acquire a portfolio of gas-weighted exploration and production (E&P) assets in Italy, Egypt, and Croatia from Energean plc, a London-based company focused on developing resources in the Mediterranean.
The deal is expected to deliver to Carlyle a diversified portfolio of strategic gas-weighted assets with expected production equivalent to 47,000 barrels of oil per day and operations across Italy, Egypt, and Croatia. The assets are well-advanced and large-scale developments in markets that are supportive of new gas development. The portfolio which Carlyle is buying includes interests in Cassiopea, Italy's largest gas field in terms of reserves, and Abu Qir, one of the largest gas-producing hubs in Egypt.
"We look forward to supporting the transformation of these assets into a scalable E&P platform in the Mediterranean through the execution of near-term developments, unlocking organic growth opportunities, M&A, and accelerating the delivery of existing decarbonisation plans," said Bob Maguire, Co-Head of Carlyle International Energy Partners.
During the meeting with Egyptian officials this week, Carlyle's representatives said that the North African country provides attractive investment opportunities, and Carlyle intends to use advanced technologies for deepwater exploration activities.
Carlyle plans to boost production of oil and gas in Egypt and turn it into a hub for receiving and distributing the group's production in the Mediterranean.
Egypt, for its part, is currently looking to import in the coming months the highest number of LNG cargoes in years as it looks to ease the strain on its grid and industry amid energy shortages that have led to rolling blackouts this summer.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More
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