Landmines Block Egypt’s Access to Oil and Gas

…Some 22 million landmines and unexploded ordnance have lain hidden in the northwest of Egypt since World War II, Fathy El-Shazly, national project director for mine clearance and development at the Ministry of International Cooperation, told United Nations news service Irin.

Many of the mines are near the battlefield of El-Alamein, where the British Eighth Army forced the Africa Corps of “Desert Fox” Erwin Rommel to retreat all the way back to Tunisia.

… The former battleground is a treasure trove of raw materials such as oil, natural gas and ore. Egypt used to be seen as a minor oil player but experts now estimate that 4.8 billion barrels of oil lie under the sands of the north west — enough for the country to draw level with OPEC member Angola in terms of oil production.

One oil field near El Alamein has already been developed, and oil is being produced in the notorious Qattara Depression, avoided by the British and German forces during World War II because of its hazardous salt lakes, high cliffs and fine-powdered sand, all of which made the area impassable for military vehicles.

Egypt also has 1.94 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, which amounts to around 1.1 percent of global reserves, and an additional 0.38 trillion is estimated to be located in the northwest and the desert inland from the coast. Gas pipelines already run from two gas fields there to Alexandria. But mines are obstructing the search for more oil and gas.

Spiegel