CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Egypt hopes to increase its ownshare of Mediterranean gas riches with an exploration tender,following major Israeli finds in the region.
State-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) plansto launch an international tender for deep water gas explorationnext year, Mahfouz El Bony, EGAS Vice Chairman for Agreementsand Exploration, said.
"We are preparing the areas that will be tendered and thetechnical data to present to interested firms," he said.
He added that EGAS was also studying the feasibility ofshale gas exploration in the Western Desert with Shell and Apache Corp.
"There are some layers in the Western Desert that could beconsidered as a source for unconventional gas... We are workingwith Shell and Apache to study the potential of theseresources," he said.
Egypt is seeking to increase its production of oil and gasin order to meet rising energy demands.
Political turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppledautocratic leader Hosni Mubarak has strained Egypt's ability tocover costs of fuel imports, deepening a fuel shortage crisisand causing frequent power cuts.
Israel's Delek Drilling said on Tuesday it foundsignificant signs of a new natural gas in the Mediterranean nearto huge reserves discovered in recent years.