Egypt has signed its first contract to extract gas by fracking in a deal with Shell and Apache which includes investments of up to $40million.
The oil ministry said it was part of efforts to boost output amid tumbling oil prices.
US oil firm Apache has sold off its interest in two LNG projects along with accompanying reserves to Woodside Petroleum in a $3.75billion deal.
The company is also expected to be reimbursed $1billion for its net expenditure on the two assets, Wheatstone and Kitimat.
The terms of the agreement means Apache will sell its equity ownership in its Australian subsidiary Apache Julimar.
Apache has agreed to sell off assets in Louisiana and the Anadarko Basin for $1.4billion in two separate transactions.
The company said the first deal will involve the sale of 90,000 net acres of mature fields in Southern Louisiana.
The mature fields, which it said were characterised by high decline rates and short reserve lives, produced 21,000 BOE (Barrels of Oil Equivalent) per day.
