The House of Representatives, the lower house of the Egyptian parliament, approved a draft law authorizing Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla to enter into a contract with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Lukoil Overseas for oil exploration and production in the desert in the east of the country, Azernews reports, citing TASS.

The agreement is implemented as part of the Egypt’s oil and gas sector development strategy, Chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee in the Egyptian parliament Ahmed El-Awadi said.

Lukoil is already implementing a series of oil and gas projects in Egypt.