Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has announced a new incentive package aimed at encouraging increased production of crude oil and natural gas, as a primary goal that the sector is working on in cooperation with partners in the fields of research, exploration and production. He pointed out that this step reflects the petroleum sector’s keenness to improve the petroleum investment climate and encourage partners to pump more investments, which leads to increased production of gas and crude oil, as investments are the main pillar for supporting and increasing petroleum production rates.

The Minister explained during an expanded meeting with oil production partners from international companies that these incentives include new mechanisms whose application is linked to achieving an increase in production over current rates, as well as an increase in exploratory and development drilling activities and production operations, which is reflected in allocating a portion of the revenues resulting from the increase in the current production level to pay part of the partners’ dues, and providing this increase in gas and oil to narrow the gap between production and local consumption, and contribute to reducing the monthly import bill, which provides more financial resources for both sides, helps to enhance investment in research, exploration and production activities, and achieves a return for the state, in addition to contributing to achieving national security by providing more oil supplies from Egyptian production.

The partners present during the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of the Ministry, the Petroleum Authority and the holding companies, expressed their appreciation for the initiative as a step that enhances their efforts to intensify activities and thus increase production. Eng. Sameh Sabry, First Deputy of Wintershall Dea, explained that the initiative is good and reflects how investment decisions are made, and is aware of the challenges facing the petroleum industry, most notably adding new reserves and production, maintaining production rates and facing the natural decline of wells. 

Ms. Iman Hill, General Manager of Falco Energy in Egypt, considered the initiative to be huge and presented with transparency, and that it is a step towards facing the challenges we all face, and that implementation is a challenge that we must overcome. 

Ms. Dalia El-Gabry, CEO of Shell Egypt, explained that the initiative is courageous and that the issue lies in implementation and continuity, and that fruitful cooperation is the basis for achieving benefit for all, especially since the issue deserves patience with commitment to consistency in implementation in light of what the initiative provides in terms of strengthening bridges of trust.

Nicholas Kacharov, Regional Director of Energean Greece, stressed the importance of continuity in implementation, especially since the initiative is positive.

New global bid to search for natural gas in 12 areas in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta

In a related context, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has launched a new global bid for 2024 to search for natural gas and crude oil in 12 sectors in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta, including 10 offshore sectors and two onshore sectors, through the Egypt Exploration and Production Portal ( EUG ) via the following link: https://eug.petroleum.gov.eg.

Basin Overview – BR Blocks

12 Bid Round Blocks in the onshore and offshore Nile Delta basins

Block Distribution per Basins:

• 1 Blocks in Herodotus Basin
• 9 blocks in offshore ND, and
• 2 Blocks in Onshore ND

The closing date will be on Tuesday, 25th February 2025.

3D seismic coverage: 113k km²

• Herodotus basin Coverage: 27k km²/27% (7 Surveys)
• Levant and offshore Nile Delta = 76k km² / 76% ( 83 Surveys)
• Onshore Nile Delta Coverage: 10k km² (15 Surveys)

Total cubes number: 105 Surveys

2D seismic coverage: 188k km

• Onshore: 42k km
• Offshore: 146k km

This auction comes within the framework of the efforts of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to attract new investments to Egypt, in accordance with its strategy aimed at exploiting promising opportunities in the field of gas and oil exploration, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, due to its great potential as a promising basin for natural gas.

Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, explained that launching the bid for natural gas exploration supports the Egyptian state’s orientation towards intensifying exploration and research activities in the Mediterranean, especially in light of the growing interest in achieving new discoveries and increasing natural gas production, which has become a basic element in the local and global energy mix.

The Minister stressed that this auction is the eighth of its kind to be offered using the latest digital means through the Egypt Exploration and Production Gateway ( EUG ), which was launched by the Ministry at the beginning of 2021, as it provides easy, fast and convenient access to basic information and all updated technical data related to the auctions, which speeds up the process of evaluating investment opportunities as well as submitting bids.

 Announcing new investment opportunities in research, exploration and field development

In this context, Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announced the availability of a group of additional investment opportunities in the fields of research, exploration and field development in open areas through the Egypt Exploration and Production Portal. The portal allows interested companies to view all available geological and production data and submit bids directly, which enhances transparency and efficiency in the bid submission process and thus encourages investment