LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - BP has signed a preliminarydeal with Egypt to rapidly develop the Atoll offshore gas fieldthat is now expected to produce first gas in 2018, the companysaid on Thursday.
BP's signing of the Heads of Agreement with Egypt's ministerof petroleum followed discussions on Wednesday between BP chiefexecutive Bob Dudley and Egyptian President Abdel Fattahal-Sisi, who is on a visit to Britain.
"We are pleased to be making rapid progress towards thedevelopment of Atoll less than eight months after theannouncement of its discovery," Dudley said in a statement onThursday.
BP, which has cut future investment budgets by up to a thirdto $17-19 billion a year due to weak oil prices, said it wouldlikely sanction the Atoll project next year.
In March, BP first announced the Atoll discovery, arelatively large find estimated to hold 1.5 trillion cubic feetof gas and 31 million barrels of condensates.
Since then, it has been eclipsed by Eni's "supergiant" Zohrgas find offshore Egypt announced in late August, the largestknown field in the Mediterranean. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Mark Potter)
BP (BP.)
