The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) postponed offering new exploration tenders for oil and gas for foreign companies in ten areas until prices of Brent oil stabilise in international markets, instead of offering tenders early in 2016.

Security approvals related to these areas have been finalisaed, CEO of EGPC Mohamed El-Masry said. He said however that the continuous decline in Brent’s prices is not encouraging companies to apply for exploration for crude oil.

The price of Brent on international markets recorded $34.4 on Wednesday and reached a maximum of $45 in November.

Al-Masry said that approvals from the concerned ministries and bodies were achieved in a number of areas in the Western Desert, in addition to renewing a number of approvals in Gulf of Suez.

EGPC allocated seven sectors over the past year as follows. Those include two sectors in the Gulf of Suez to the German company RWE, two sectors in the Western Desert to the Tunisian HBSI, one sector in the Western Dessert to the Canadian Transglobe, one sector in the Western Dessert to the Italian IEOC, and one sector in the Western Dessert to Italy’s Edison.

Al-Masry said Egypt has not discovered all its petroleum and gas potentials since there are still places, such as the Western Dessert, West Delta, and the Mediterranean Sea deep waters, where there are still large amounts of undiscovered gas.

Egypt is a big market for energy investments, for its large reserves of petroleum and gas, and home for good human resources.

Brent suffered its worst week over a year, falling to a price of $34.4 per barrel. International Energy Agency has warned that the offered size of Brent will lead to further price declines in the upcoming year.