CAIRO, Mar 3 (Aswat Masriya) - British Petroleum company has discovered a new deep-water exploration gas well in the Mediterranean sea of of Egypt, it announced on Monday.

The new discovery, Atoll-1 is expected to be the deepest well drilled in Egypt. It is estimated to contain over 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, BP said in a statement.

The discovery is the second for BP in its exploration programme in the East Nile Delta region, said Hesham Mekawi, the company's North Africa regional president. 

"The Atoll discovery is a great outcome," Mekkawi said in a BP statement, adding that the discovery shows the energy company's "ongoing efforts" to contribute to meeting Egypt's energy needs.

Egypt has been facing its worst energy crisis in years, with power outages on the rise. Power cuts have specifically surged since the start of last summer.

Egyptian authorities have often owed the power crisis to a larger fuel crisis, which mainly involves a shortage in natural gas.