CAIRO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek al-Molla said on Monday that his ministry has signed 83 agreements with international companies to dig for oil and gas since June 2013 revolution, official MENA news agency reported.
His comments came during his meeting with members of the French Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, the French Ambassador Stéphane Romatet and representatives of French oil companies.
The number of agreements is a record in the history of Egyptian petroleum industry, al-Molla said.
In June 2013, the Egyptian army ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.
The minister added that the trust of the French companies in Egypt comes from the sincere desire of the Egyptian government to apply its economic reform program.
The Egyptian minister revealed that a new strategy will be witnessed in 2018 to develop the mineral wealth in Egypt.
Also on Monday, al-Molla met in Cairo with British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson and UK trade envoy Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to discuss available investment opportunities in Egypt.
During the meeting, al-Molla said that the fruitful results achieved by British companies investing in the Petroleum sector in Egypt represent an incentive for bumping more investments in Egypt.
They also reviewed major gas projects carried out in Egypt with the participation of the British companies including the operation of gas fields in northern Alexandria and western the Mediterranean coast.
Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer in recent years, squeezed by declining production and increasing consumption.
However, Egypt is back on track to be an exporter soon after a big number of recent discoveries across the country that attracted several international firms for oil exploration over the past years.
