INPEX TO WITHDRAW FROM A SUEZ OIL CONCESSION

The Teikoku Oil unit of Inpex has decided to withdraw from one of its four concessions in Egypt. Teikoku Oil had a 30% interest in the Southeast July Block (on the Gulf of Suez coast) since December 2003. Its partners in the venture were the Devon Energy Corporation of the United States and Santos, Ltd. of Australia. The reason for the liquidation of the project is that they simply didn’t find enough oil there to make the project economical.

Teikoku’s involvement in Egyptian oil began in June 1975 with the concession for the West Bakr Block, which began producing oil in 1980, and is still active. As reported briefly in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 28, Teikoku also gained two new concessions in Egypt in June 2005: the South October Block and the North Qarun Block. These other three concessions are not affected by the decision by Inpex to withdraw from the Southeast July Block.

Inpex and Teikoku merged in November 2005 (see Shingetsu Newsletter No. 111).