RIL, BP secure oil supply tenders from Egypt

Reliance Industries (RIL) and its British partner BP secured large crude oil supply tenders from Egypt for 2013.

Reports suggest that RIL secured the bulk (18 cargoes) on offer from EgyptÂ’s Ras Gharib terminal, winning around 1.5 million tonne of the heavy crude. BP managed to get 15 cargoes in 2013, amounting to 1.2 million.

It may be recalled that RIL and BP planned to invest an estimated $7.2 billion on the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs allowed the British firm to acquire 30 per cent participating interest in 21 oil and gas blocks of RIL, including the premium KG-D6 gas fields.

Both the firms began drilling on a satellite discovery surrounding the gas fields in the KG-D6 block.

Earlier in September, BP announced that it would begin work on a natural gas production project in EgyptÂ’s Mediterranean basin. BPÂ’s offshore project is expected to add 20 per cent to EgyptÂ’s natural gas production. BP Egypt also announced two new discoveries in Nile delta in August this year.

In the case of its Japan contract, the price of the BP gas will be sourced from its production in Egypt and the Caribbean region. The company has decided to invest $10 billion in Egypt over the coming five years.