Funded by an investment of $US1 billion, BG is planning to drill nine more development wells in the concession in late 2011. The new pipeline will transport the additional gas produced from the field.

“Egypt is a core area for us and we hope to participate in future exploration,” BG Egypt President Arshad Sufi has said.

Egypt has 77.2 Tcf of proven natural gas reserves, with BG Group producing as much as 40 per cent of the country’s total output.