In Egypt, the Ministry of Petroleum on Friday said it has received six bids for oil and gas exploration worth a total investment of close to $200 million.

According to the Ministry, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Apache Corp and Apex are part of the companies that won bids. It added that BP's bid was worth about $46 million, Apache's was at least $60.6 million while Shell offered close to $35.5 million.

In May, the General Authority for Petroleum declared an international tender for 11 oil and natural gas blocks in the western desert and Gulf of Suez. The tender came at a time, Egypt was planning to boost its oil and gas production so as to meet rising domestic demand for energy.

The Egyptian government has been struggling to attract foreign investors to its energy sector in a bid to increase public finances, as it owes about $3 billion to foreign oil companies for oil and gas supplied.

Anita Fatunji