Egyptian oil explorers to invest $1bn in Western Sahara

A view of a gas plant seen from the desert road of Suez outside Cairo, Egypt September 1, 2020. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 29 April 2021
Follow

Egyptian oil explorers to invest $1bn in Western Sahara

  • Khalda Petroleum to invest $830m; Qarun Petroeum to invest $252m
  • Oil and gas explorers announce plans for fiscal 2021/2

RIYADH: Egypt’s Khalda Petroleum Co. and Qarun Petroleum Co. intend to invest more than $1 billion in oil exploration in the Western Desert, Al Arabiya reported.

Khalda Petroleum plans to spend about $830 million during the fiscal year 2021/2022 drilling 35 exploration wells and 52 development wells as it seeks to achieve average daily production of about 130,000 barrels of crude oil and condensates, and 630 million cubic feet of natural gas in its concession areas in Western Sahara, Chairman Saeed Abdel Moneim said.

Qarun Petroleum will invest about $252 million in the area on 24 development wells and 5 exploration wells over the same period, the company’s President Ashraf Abdel-Gawad said. The investment will help boost annual production to about 9 million barrels of crude oil, he said.

The plans were announced during a budget planning video conference with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tariq Al Mulla, who stressed the need to focus on exploration activities and the speed of their completion to compensate for the natural decrease in production.


Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh

Updated 29 January 2026
Follow

Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh

RIYADH: The Real Estate Registry concluded its participation in the Real Estate Future 2026, as a partner of the forum, with a distinguished presence that included the launch of its business portal, the signing of 10 agreements and memoranda of understanding with entities from the public and private sectors, the organization of specialized workshops, and the awarding of the Gold Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards.

During his participation in the forum, the CEO of the firm, Mohammed Al-Sulaiman, reviewed the latest developments in real estate registration in the Kingdom in a keynote speech, highlighting the pivotal role of the Real Estate Registry in building a unified and reliable system for data. He also announced the launch of the national blockchain infrastructure, which aims to enable the microcoding of real estate assets, enhance transparency, expand investment opportunities, and support innovative ownership models within a reliable regulatory framework.

On the sidelines of the forum, Al-Sulaiman met with Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa. During the meeting, they discussed areas of joint cooperation, exchanged experiences and advice on shaping the future of the real estate sector, and reviewed best practices in implementing real estate registration systems that enhance reliability and improve the efficiency of property registration.
efficiency of property registration systems.

The Real Estate Registry’s participation included organizing three specialized workshops that focused on the role of geospatial technologies in identifying ownership, enhancing transparency, and improving the quality of real estate data. 

The workshop “Empowering the Real Estate Registry for the Business Sector” reviewed digital solutions that enable the business sector to manage its real estate assets more efficiently and enhance governance and technical integration. The workshop “From Off-Plan Sales to Title Deed” focused on the journey of documenting real estate ownership and the role of the registry in linking the stages of development and documentation within an integrated digital system.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Real Estate Registry signed 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding, including a deal with Yasmina Information Technology Co. to utilize real estate data in developing smarter insurance solutions that support the real estate sector and enhance service reliability. 

Partnerships were also signed with Haseel, NewTech, and Sahl, as well as HissaTech and Droub, to develop innovative digital solutions in property ownership, fractional ownership, and asset tokenization, as well as real estate finance and investment within a trusted regulatory framework.

Further collaborations included an MoU with ROSHN Group, an agreement with the Saudi Water Authority to enable data integration and quality enhancement, an agreement with the Saudi National Bank, and a partnership with Saudi Post to link the national address with the property registry as a unified geospatial identifier supporting data accuracy and integration.

The registry’s participation was crowned with the Golden Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards in the category of Excellence in Property Documentation, in recognition of its role in building a model based on transparency, accuracy, and speed, as well as advanced digital technologies and specialized legal expertise, contributing to rights protection and increasing the sector’s attractiveness.

The Real Estate Registry emphasized that its participation reflects its continued role as a key enabler of the real estate sector, a trusted data source, and an active partner in driving digital transformation, enhancing market efficiency, and building investor and financier confidence, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives for a fully integrated and sustainable digital real estate ecosystem.