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CAIRO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek ElMolla has signed three offshore oil and gas exploration andproduction deals worth a total of at least $220 million withFrance's Total, Britain's BP, and Italian oilmajor ENI's Egyptian subsidiary IEOC, the ministry saidon Wednesday.
The deals include drilling for six wells and a signing bonusof $9 million, the ministry said in a statement, and are theresult of a tender called by Egyptian state gas board EGAS. Theyare all in exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea.
The first deal, with a consortium of BP and IEOC, is worth$75 million for an exploration block in the North Ras El Eshblock; the second, with a consortium of all three companies, isin the North El Hammad block and is worth $80 million, and thethird, with BP alone, is in the North Tabia block and worth $65million.
Egypt has gone from exporting energy to being a net importeras domestic output has failed to keep pace with rising demand.
Saudi Arabia informed Egypt last month that shipments of oilproducts expected under a $23 billion aid deal had been haltedindefinitely.
The government is seeking ways to help the country cope andMolla said last week that Egypt wanted to import crude oildirectly from Iraq and he hoped to finalise the deal by thefirst quarter of 2017.
The oil sector in Egypt has signed 73 oil and gasexploration deals with international oil companies in the pastthree years worth at least $15 billion so far, Molla said inWednesday's statement, and signing bonuses of over $1 billionfor the drilling of 306 wells.
Earlier on Wednesday, an EGAS official told Reuters theboard had determined Egypt needed around 100 shipments ofliquefied natural gas worth $2.2 billion in 2017 and had alreadysecured 60 shipments. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Giles Elgood andMark Potter)