(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held separate meetings on Sunday with senior executives from US energy giants ExxonMobil and Apache Corporation, as well as China's state-owned chemical engineering firm CNCEC, to discuss boosting investment and exploration in the country's energy and petrochemical sectors, the presidency said.

The meetings, which were also attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi, focused on the companies' current activities and future expansion plans in Egypt.

In his meeting with ExxonMobil's Vice President for Exploration, John Ardill, Al-Sisi discussed the company's exploration activities in the Mediterranean Sea. Ardill presented a detailed overview of the work in the company's two concessions, the“Cairo” and“Masry” blocks, noting that exploration efforts were being intensified following the completion of seismic surveys.

Separately, Al-Sisi met with Apache Corporation CEO John Christmann to review the company's expansion plans, particularly in the Western Desert. The president praised Apache's successes in Egypt over the past decades, describing the company as the largest American investor in the country and a key partner in the oil and gas sector. Christmann affirmed Apache's desire to boost production rates, given the many opportunities for new discoveries.

In both meetings with the US firms, Al-Sisi stressed the importance the state attaches to exploration projects and affirmed Egypt's readiness to provide all necessary facilities, expressing his hope that the companies would intensify their exploration and development activities.

The president's meeting with Mo Dingge, chairperson of the China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation (CNCEC), centred on a planned project to produce soda ash in Egypt. Sisi praised the strong Egyptian-Chinese relations and assured the chairman that the state would facilitate the procedures for the project, which he described as strategic for supporting the self-sufficiency of local industries and reducing imports.

The CNCEC chairperson expressed his company's desire to expand its investments in Egypt, a move Sisi welcomed, stressing that the state provides many advantages and incentives for foreign and local investors.

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