Investment in an oil exploration agreement in Egypt with British Petroleum (BP) and its German partner RWE Dea has been increased to $12 billion, Egypt’s petroleum minister, Sherif Ismail, announced on Thursday.

The petroleum ministry signed an amendment agreement on Thursday with the two companies, modifying a 2010 deal which put the investment at $9 billion, Ismail said.

The agreement - undertaken along with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation - will develop hydrocarbon resources in north Alexandria and deep-water concessions in the west Mediterranean, according to BP’s website. Production from the west Nile Delta is projected to reach up to 1 billion cubic feet per day, providing a major new source of gas for the domestic market in Egypt.

The first phase will develop an estimated 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and associated condensate through subsea development of five offshore fields into a new purpose-built onshore gas plant on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, BP’s press statement said.

The project is expected to start production by 2017.