Cairo - Mubasher: The Egyptian ​Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, has signed two agreements for oil exploration and production in the Eastern and Western Deserts with total investments of $506 million.

The agreements were reached with Canada's TransGlobe Energy and Pharos Energy, according to a statement on Thursday.

The agreement with TransGlobe includes the regions of West Gharib, West Bakr, and North West Gharib in the Eastern Desert, while the second will enable Pharos Energy to explore oil in the El Fayum region in the Western Desert.

The Ministry of Petroleum also inked a $67 million contract to drill 12 wells.