Egypt's oil minister said on Thursday that BP'S $10 billion natural gas project in the North Alexandria concession, stalled for the past three years, had restarted and that production would begin in 2017.

Sherif Ismail told reporters on a visit to Al-Aseel oil field that production was expected to begin in 2017, with 450 million cubic feet per day initially being extracted. He said production would rise to 800 million cubic feet per day in 2018.

BP, one of the largest foreign investors in Egypt, had initially planned to start production this year, but the date was pushed back after a delay that paused work for three years, the minister said.

Ismail said a delegation from BP would arrive on July 17 for talks with the government. – Reuters