Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met on Tuesday with a delegation from global energy services company Halliburton, headed by Ahmed Helmy, the company’s Vice President for North Africa, to discuss strengthening cooperation and leveraging the company’s latest technologies and technical applications to increase oil production, improve field economics and reduce operating and production costs.
The minister stressed that increasing production and maximizing the use of Egypt’s oil and gas resources are top priorities for the petroleum sector. He underscored the importance of deploying modern technologies and global expertise to turn the opportunities and potential available in fields and reservoirs into actual production increases, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Petroleum on Tuesday.
Badawi directed Halliburton to prepare specific, actionable technical and economic studies on available opportunities to boost production across different regions of Egypt, with a focus on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies and an assessment of the most suitable applications based on the characteristics of each area.
He also stressed the importance of strengthening coordination between Halliburton and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE), with the aim of identifying priority opportunities and developing clear work programs to capitalize on them.
The minister further called for expanding the application of modern technologies to natural gas projects and fields, alongside oil projects, in a way that would maximize the utilization of available reserves and resources and improve production economics. Badawi emphasized the need for regular follow-up on the results of technical and economic studies and for translating recommendations into on-the-ground implementation programs to ensure tangible increases in production and reductions in costs.
For his part, Ahmed Helmy praised the steps taken by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in recent months, as well as the clear objectives it has established to improve the investment climate, increase production and strengthen partnerships with international oil companies.
He also welcomed the positive developments regarding outstanding payments owed to foreign partners. Helmy said Halliburton has significant operational flexibility and the ability to mobilize and deploy its equipment, assets and expertise across North Africa, enabling it to expand its operations in the Egyptian market and provide technical and technological support to companies engaged in exploration and production activities.
The Halliburton vice president revealed that the company has already begun preparing specialized studies to identify opportunities in unconventional areas and reservoirs, which could contribute to increasing production, improving operating economics and reducing costs.
He noted that some of these solutions could initially be applied in the operating areas of Khalda Petroleum Company in the Western Desert.