Clashes between Egyptian military forces and protestors, which have left at least 525 people killed, have not led to a drop in production.Â
Royal Dutch Shell was reported to have closed its offices in Egypt, but, according to a report by Reutures, gave no details on how many staff were affected by the closures nor where the offices were located.
A spokesman could not immediately say whether oil installations – mostly in the Western Desert and Nile delta – were affected.
“To ensure the safety and security of our staff, Shell offices in Egypt are closed for business today and into the weekend and business travel into the country has been restricted. We will continue to monitor the situation in Egypt,” the spokesman said in a statement, according to Reuters.Â
Egypt is the largest oil producer in Africa that is not a member of OPEC, and the second largest natural gas producer on the continent, following Algeria. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the country holds approximately 4.4 billion barrels of oil reserves, and in 2012, Egypt’s total oil production averaged around 720,000 bbl/d, of which approximately 555,000 bbl/d was crude oil including lease condensate.Â
“Operations and production are unaffected. We are monitoring the security situation in the (urban) areas where we have offices. All our people are safe and accounted for,” a BP spokesman said. BP meets about 15 percent of the country’s oil production capacity and over 30 percent for gas, along with its partners, which include Shell.
A spokesman for BG, whose offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations in Egypt account for about a fifth of its total production, said there was no change to report and that all its people were safe and accounted for. The company already in July pulled out 100 expatriate staff and dependents.
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