Egypt-China joint venture produces 1st oil rig

CAIRO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt on Wednesday unveiled its first locally-produced oil rig in Ain Sokhna port in northeastern Egypt.

The 2,000-horsepower automatic trailer-mounted onshore oil drilling rig was manufactured by an Egypt-China joint venture.

"This is the first made-in-Egypt oil drill and will help carry out the digging and excavation programs in ground areas," said Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla at the delivery ceremony.

He added that manufacturing diggers locally is a new and important step that enables the petroleum sector to make optimal use of its capabilities and accelerate its plans to drill wells to increase the oil production and gas resources, amid growing demand for oil.

"The digger is a model of fruitful economic cooperation between Egypt and China and a successful example for transferring the manufacturing technology from China to Egypt," El-Molla said.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chaoyang, minister of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said that the successful delivery of the project is an important result of years of good cooperation between Chinese companies and their Egyptian partners.

This is a vivid example of the active participation of Chinese-funded companies in Egypt in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative," Zhang said.

As the producer of the excavation digger, Egyptian Petroleum HH Rig Manufacturing S.A.E Co. was co-funded by subsidiaries of China's Honghua Group Ltd and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

Zhu Hua, executive vice president of Honghua Group Ltd, told Xinhua that the localized production of the drilling rig in Egypt has alleviated the country's shortage of imported oil and gas equipment, and trained local technical talents to help the country's independent mining and improve efficiency.