A global bid for natural gas research and exploration will be offered in eleven areas at the beginning of next year, according to a prominent official with the EGAS company.

He said that the areas will include three land plots in the Delta and eight marine sites in the Mediterranean, “and we sent maps of the areas that EGAS intends to offer to the relevant authorities in order to obtain approvals,” the official explained.

He added that a meeting will be held with the Navy this month in order to agree on the details of the eight marine areas that will be included in the tender.

He stated that EGAS also obtained approvals for a shale gas research and exploration bid in four areas in the Western Desert.

The areas will be offered through an Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) bid, due to the EGPC’s jurisdiction in the Western Desert, and the body will set a date for the bid as well.

The official pointed out that this bid would not include the areas in which Shell and Apache are currently working on shale gas production in the Western Sahara.

EGAS launched a bid last December for natural gas exploration in several areas, including the Delta and five marine areas. Italian oil company Eni was awarded deep-water concession areas 8 and 9, while Edison was awarded concession area 7.

The official pointed out that the bid forms part of a plan prepared by the company, which stipulates that exploration bids be offered for natural gas and shale gas annually.

He explained that EGAS is working to offer a number of gas exploration bids in a move to increase domestic production in light of continuous decreases.

Natural gas production from Egyptian fields is declining at a rate of 100m cubic feet per month.