In his press statement following the agreement signature on 28/7/2010, Eng. Sameh Fahmi, Minister of Petroleum, announced that the Strategic Framework Agreement for cooperation in the field of oil, which was signed in Milan between the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and the Italian Corp. ENI, will contribute to the launch of the Egyptian petroleum companies to work globally in the upstream domain, in order to increase Egypt's oil and gas reserves outside the Egyptian borders, after working successfully field of projects' implementation of and petroleum services, in more than 14 countries, of which 7 states are members of OPEC. Moreover, its participation with Eni in the development of oil fields in Iraq and Gabon comes in the context of the political leadership perspective to support Iraq as well as Africa, targeting to promote joint cooperation with African countries and increasing the presence of Egypt within the African continent. The Minister added that cooperation with ENI in the Arab gas pipeline project will contribute to bolstering the ongoing cooperation among Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, along with intensifying exploration activities in the Mediterranean Sea. He pointed out that, this historic agreement confirms the advancement of the Egyptian petroleum industry and it’s launching to work globally, following the previous successes achieved during the past five years in the fields of projects and petroleum services. On the other hand, Mr. Ashraf Rashed, the Egyptian Ambassador to Italy mentioned the praising of Eni’s CEO to the high efficiency level of Egyptian Petroleum Sector's performance and its success in developing the oil and gas industry, which has become a solid platform, set to work abroad, and requires extensive experience and high technology, the Egyptian petroleum companies enjoy currently. However, the cooperation with ENI in developing oil fields in Iraq and Gabon within its acquired concession areas represents an important step to secure oil supplies for both parties as well as a work program framework for joint cooperation domains outside Egypt.