Arab Finance: Egypt is accelerating efforts to boost crude oil and natural gas production as well as scaling exploration activities, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi said during an extensive meeting with international and Egyptian oil companies.

Officials reviewed key performance indicators for exploration and production, field development programs, and plans to increase oil and gas output over the next five years. Talks also covered new investment opportunities and targeted work programs through 2030.

Badawi expressed his appreciation for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s support in addressing the challenge of outstanding dues, affirming the settlement of all outstanding payments to partners by the target date last June.

The minister expected that ongoing drilling and field-development programs would gradually put Egypt’s gas production back on a growth trajectory as new projects are completed and brought online.

He outlined preparations to commence a new seismic survey in the Western Desert region, near the Libyan border. The area extends over an area estimated at about 110,000 square kilometers, representing 11% of Egypt’s total area, adding that Saudi Ardesys, a company specializing in seismic surveys, was selected to implement the project.

For his part, Salah Abdel Kerim, the CEO of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), highlighted that exploration activity over the past two fiscal years (FYs) delivered strong results, with 149 exploratory wells drilled, resulting in 112 new discoveries.

The discoveries included 88 crude oil finds and 24 natural gas discoveries, including the notable Denise gas discovery in Port Said.

During fiscal year (FY) 2024/2025 and FY2025/26, Egypt penned 19 exploration and production agreements with minimum investments of $823.1 million, alongside $93.5 million in signing bonuses and commitments to drill 134 wells.

The government is currently preparing to sign 13 additional agreements with investments exceeding $1 billion and commitments to drill 120 wells.

EGPC is also working to bridge the gap between domestic production and consumption of key petroleum products, including diesel, gasoline, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Abdel Karim said the corporation has focused on securing sufficient crude oil supplies, boosting refinery efficiency, and optimizing available resources. These measures contributed to increasing refinery operating rates from around 66% to more than 80% in less than a year.

Sayed Selim, Managing Director of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), said Egypt significantly expanded gas exploration activity during FY2025/2026.

The number of wells drilled increased from just two in FY2020/21 to 15 in FY2025/2026, while the number of discoveries rose from one to 10 over the same period.

During FY2025/2026, EGAS awarded 11 new exploration blocks and signed five agreements, expanding investment opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea and Nile Delta.

Over the next five years, EGAS plans to accelerate the development of new discoveries and bring them into production as quickly as possible.

The company is also advancing a new Eastern Mediterranean seismic survey project signed with the SLB-Viridien consortium, which is designed to provide updated geological and geophysical data and help identify additional investment opportunities in the region.

Meanwhile, Samir Raslan, Chairman of the South Valley Egyptian Holding Petroleum Company (Ganope), said the company has gradually increased production to around 33,000 barrels per day (bpd) during FY 2025/2026 following the drilling of 33 development wells and 11 exploration wells.

The company is also expanding seismic survey activities to strengthen Egypt’s geological database. A seismic survey covering approximately 100,000 square kilometers in the southern Western Desert is expected to deliver results by the end of the year following data processing, potentially opening new areas for oil and gas investment in southern Egypt.

Under its five-year plan, the company plans to drill 36 exploration wells with investments of $177 million. This could increase to 60 wells following the award of 20 additional exploration blocks.

South Valley also plans to offer 17 investment opportunities in promising exploration areas. The company is targeting a gradual increase in production to approximately 44,000 barrels per day in FY 2026/27, before reaching 65,000 bpd in FY 2030/2031.