CAIRO: Egypt has signed a deep-water oil and gas exploration deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas worth around US$1 billion (RM4.14 billion) for eight wells in the country’s West Nile Delta, the petroleum ministry said on Saturday.

The country also signed a second US$10 million deal with Rockhopper, Kuwait Energy and Canada’s Dover Corporation for exploration in the Western Desert, a ministry statement said.

Egypt aims to be a regional hub for the trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after a string of major discoveries in recent years, including Zohr, which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.