Egypt signs exploration deals worth $1bn with leading energy companies

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla said that the country has signed nine oil and gas exploration agreements worth $1 billion with local and international energy companies.

These deals allow companies to explore the eastern and western Mediterranean, as well as the Red Sea. Six major oil and gas companies will drill 17 wells for oil and gas discoveries, the minister said.

“Egypt seeks luring new international investments in gas and oil exploration, and concluding deals with big companies as a priority,” he added.

He noted that the development of various oil deals has greatly helped to increase Egypt’s competitiveness as an attractive destination for investment amidst stable economic conditions and reforms.

According to the reports, the latest deals include exploration agreements with international majors such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Total, and Shell.

Italy-based multinational oil and gas company Eni said in September that it has found a gas field in the waters of the Nile Delta, offshore Egypt. The discovery is situated in the Great Nooros zone, located in the Abu Madi Development Lease, and it was confirmed after Eni drilled an exploratory well in the concession area.

Egypt, the most populated state in the Arab world, has benefited greatly from Eni’s discovery of the Zohr area in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2016.

Recently, Egypt granted US oil major Chevron, Anglo-Dutch Shell, and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala rights to explore the Red Sea for oil and gas as it extends its quest for new hydrocarbon reserves. After granting exploration licenses to concessions in the western and eastern desert regions, the Nile Delta and the Gulf of Suez, Egypt said that it plans to launch another round that included blocks in the Red Sea.

In 2019, Saudi Arabia has reported the discovery of large quantities of gas in the Red Sea. And, the Kingdom intends to conduct an investment feasibility study on the project and intensify exploration in the Red Sea over the next two years.