Edison’s Commercial Manager, Tarek Shalaby, stated that the Italian firm will start drilling 3 new wells in its gas concessions in Egypt including  South Edco, Abu Qir, and North West El Gendy during January 2017, reported Al Borsa News. Additionally, Edison will start enhancing North Abu Qir-3 by December 2016 to produce 80mcf/d of gas and 3500b/d of condensates, with investments worth $220m.

Furthermore, Edison and Al Qalaa Holdings are currently negotiating with the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity over the construction of a power plant in Abu Qir with a capacity of 180MW. At the same time they are negotiating with the Ministry of Petroleum to provide gas for the power plant through Edison’s Abu Qir field. They are also in talks with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) about agreements to provide the required lands for the project.

The Company contracted with Al Qalaa Holdings to construct the Abu Qir power plant and sell production directly to investors. The new power plant is estimated to cost around $112m, with Edison and Al Qalaa Holdings providing equal funding.