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BG Group hopeful for Egyptian future

READING, England, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Political instability in Egypt is in part to blame for lower than expected energy production for next year, BG Group said.

The Egyptian military took control of the government in July. Hundreds of people were killed during August clashes between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and national security forces.

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BG Group was one of the first companies announcing it was scaling back its presence in Egypt because of the upheaval.

The company said "ongoing political and social instability in Egypt" means production from its deep water West Delta operations is delayed. First production is expected next year provided "no further disruption is caused to the program."

It said production from its Knarr project in Norway was delayed four months to mid-2014 because of unspecified reasons.

The company said the impact of Egypt and Norway meant 2014 targets would be reduced by 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent. It said its 2015 goal of producing more than 775,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day remains unchanged but added that depends on natural gas prices and "future events in Egypt."

Rival BP announced Monday it made a natural gas discovery while drilling in the deep waters of an eastern Nile Delta project. The British company in its announcement noted its historic ties to the Egyptian energy sector.

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