Dubai-based Dragon Oil Ltd said on Monday it had completed the purchase of BP's oil concessions in Egypt's Gulf of Suez and will invest $1 billion over five years to boost and extend their production.
Dragon, owned by Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), said it had replaced BP as the partner of state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO), which has 11 offshore oil exploration and production concessions.
GUPCO's target had been to increase the concessions' combined production to 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil by 2021 from the current 60,000 bpd.
But Dragon said it plans to boost production to above 75,000 bpd and maintain this level for 10 years by further drilling and investing $1 billion over the next five years.
The deal between Dragon Oil and BP was announced in June, pending approval by Egypt's ministry of petroleum.
(Reporting by Dahlia Nehme and Patrick Werr; Editing by Edmund Blair and Deepa Babington)