Eni renews commitment to Egypt

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CAIRO, June 8 (UPI) -- Italian energy company Eni said it was planning to drill 12 new exploratory wells in the Western Desert in Egypt after meeting with officials in Cairo.

Claudio Descalzi, Eni's chief operating officer, met with Egyptian Petroleum Minister Abdallah Ghorab to discuss the Italian company's renewed commitment to Egypt.

The development and exploration plans are part of future investments in Egypt that will amount to approximately $3 billion, the energy company said.

Eni last year before the Egyptian revolution began oil production in the Arcadia field in the Western Desert just 45 days after it made its initial discovery.

Eni added then that it would work with Egyptian companies to tap into oil fields in Iraq and Gabon.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports that recent major natural gas discoveries in Egypt put the country just behind Nigeria and Algeria in terms of African gas producers with around 58.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.