Arab Finance: Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met with Julien Pouget, President for the Middle East and North Africa, Exploration and Production at France-based energy company TotalEnergies, to discuss accelerating the connection of Cyprus’ Cronos gas field to Egyptian infrastructure and expanding cooperation on Mediterranean gas exploration and production, as per a statement.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference and Exhibition (MOC 2026) in Alexandria.
The discussions covered progress on natural gas projects, implementation steps for the Cronos connection, and opportunities to increase investment in exploration and production in Egypt’s Mediterranean waters. The gas connection project involves the Egyptian petroleum sector, Italy-based energy company Eni, and TotalEnergies.
Badawi explained that the project would enable Cyprus to develop its natural gas resources and access export markets through Egyptian facilities for receiving, processing, and re-exporting gas. He added that this would strengthen Egypt’s role as a regional gas trading hub while delivering economic benefits to all parties.
He attributed progress on the project to cooperation between governments and international energy companies, supported by high-level political backing from the Egyptian and Cypriot leaderships. That support had strengthened coordination among the stakeholders, helping them address challenges and advance implementation, he noted.
Alongside the Cronos project, Badawi stressed Egypt’s interest in attracting further TotalEnergies investment to its natural gas sector to support exploration, discoveries, and production and make greater use of the country’s gas resources.
He affirmed the Ministry’s readiness to support the company’s projects and work jointly on technical and commercial solutions to lower costs and improve their economic viability. These efforts would encourage TotalEnergies to expand its activities and reach investment decisions more quickly, he added.
Pouget welcomed the cooperation with the Ministry, explaining that TotalEnergies was continuing to assess promising exploration opportunities in Egypt with technical teams. The assessments aim to identify areas with strong gas potential and guide investment decisions through accurate data and detailed technical studies.
Access to additional technical information would improve those assessments, Pouget said, adding that the company intended to continue evaluating available prospects in the coming period.
