The source says that bidding has now been closed, but will not be drawn to say how many bids have been received or when winners will be announced.

“We will announce a winner when we have assessed the bids, there will be no information until then,” he says.

In January, an Egas spokeswoman told MEED that she expected strong interest from international companies for all the blocks on offer (MEED 21:1:09).

The six blocks encompass seven discovered gas fields: block one is in the North Gamasa field; block two in the North Tineh field; block four in the East El Burullus field; block five in the North El Mamura field; block six in the North El Dabaa field; and block seven in the Sidi Barrani field.

The bid deadline for block three, in the North Damietta field, was delayed until 31 March, the company spokeswoman told MEED in January.