Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation has signed a $1 billion agreement with the Italian energy company Eni, for oil exploration in the Gulf of Suez and Nile Delta region in Egypt. Under the agreement, Eni is committed to spend at least an additional $20 million to drill four new wells, according to a statement issued by the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources. The deal comes as part of the ministry’s strategy to increase production rates and to plan for the natural decline of wells by using the latest technologies in oil producing areas. It also aims to encourage the pumping of more investments in the field of oil and gas exploration and boost Egypt’s reserves. Last October, the Italian company announced three new discoveries in the Meleiha and South West Meleiha concessions in the Western Desert. Eni has been operating in Egypt since 1954 and is a major producer, with a current production of about 360,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.