Arab Finance: The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) plans to add around 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) to domestic natural gas production by the end of 2026, according to a statement.
EGAS will bring 250 MMcf/d from the Zohr and West Mena fields in the Mediterranean, while another 80 MMcf/d is scheduled to be added from the Meleiha fields in the Western Desert by the end of September.
During the company’s general assembly meeting, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi affirmed the government’s efforts to boost local gas production by developing existing fields, expanding exploration activities, and linking discoveries to the national production network.
Badawi outlined the required investments in gas exploration and production, particularly in the deep-water Mediterranean, noting that drilling the Velox-1 well in the Western Mediterranean cost around $95 million. In this regard, he stressed the need to access new resources and create an investment climate capable of encouraging international oil and gas companies to deploy further capital in Egypt.
For his part, Sayed Selim, Managing Director of EGAS, reviewed key operational results for fiscal year (FY) 2025/2026, during which the company awarded four new gas exploration blocks in the Mediterranean and Delta, with investments of $200 million earmarked for drilling nine wells.
EGAS also finalized five new gas exploration agreements worth $240 million to drill 14 exploratory wells and signed a development contract for the North Atoll field with Energean.
The company announced nine discoveries, including eight gas and one oil discovery, adding around 2.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves. Three additional exploratory gas wells are currently being drilled and are expected to be completed by year-end.
As for the current FY, EGAS has identified 16 new exploration opportunities, with plans to drill 16 wells targeting estimated resources of around 6 Tcf of gas. The discoveries are expected to support the addition of new resources to production over the medium term.
Selim pointed out that the seismic survey results in the Western Mediterranean helped attract new investments from TotalEnergies and Chevron, while preparations are underway to launch a new seismic survey campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean in October.
The chairman said the company executed nine gas field development projects and connected 28 new wells to the production grid, with investments totaling $1.12 billion. Additionally, a global tender was launched for gas exploration across eight blocks in the Mediterranean, the Delta, and North Sinai.
EGAS connected around 804,000 residential units to the natural gas network during the year, bringing the total number of connected units to 16.2 million, serving around 69 million citizens. Natural gas was also introduced for the first time to 58 new areas nationwide, helping reduce reliance on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.
Additionally, the company implemented projects worth around EGP 14 billion to strengthen and improve the efficiency of Egypt’s national gas transmission network, enhancing its capacity to meet demand from government sectors and consumers.
