CAIRO, April 24 (Reuters) - Egypt will seek a bigger shareof production in future oil and gas exploration contracts signedwith foreign companies, its oil minister said in remarkspublished Wednesday.
In remarks to Al-Borsa newspaper, Osama Kamel said the newsystem would not be applied retroactively to existing contracts.He did not give a time frame or any further details.
"We will implement the new contracts system in tenders to beoffered in the next period and not retroactively. The contractsthat were recently concluded will not be subjected to it," hesaid.
An Egyptian engineer has filed a lawsuit demanding thefreezing of oil exploration contracts signed with foreign firms,saying that they undermine Egyptian interests. An administrativecourt on Tuesday adjourned the case until July 6.
The oil ministry last week awarded contracts for a minimuminvestment of $1.2 billion in eight oil and gas prospectionprojects in the Mediterranean Sea off its northern coast.
It awarded the contracts to firms including BP,Petroceltic International, Edison, Sea Dragon, Dana Gas, IEOC, a subsidiary of Italian oilmajor ENI and Pura Vida Energy.