Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed the importance of continuing efforts to secure petroleum products to meet consumption and production needs, in coordination with relevant authorities, while emphasizing the need to expand production and exploration activities in cooperation with international companies.
His remarks came during a meeting Monday with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi to review ministry files. During the meeting, Badawi outlined the ministry’s key priorities during the current phase, including securing petroleum products and natural gas supplies, increasing production and exploration activities in cooperation with global companies, and maximizing the value of petroleum resources through refining and petrochemical industries.
The minister also reviewed efforts to advance the mining sector and enhance its added value, strengthen regional cooperation to attract further investments in the petroleum and mining sectors, and create an attractive investment climate while maintaining safety standards, improving energy efficiency, and reducing emissions.
He further highlighted coordination with the electricity sector to secure an optimal energy mix to support economic growth, as well as leveraging Egypt’s strategic location for green hydrogen production and energy trade. Badawi reviewed the latest developments in exploration and production activities, noting that measures taken to settle arrears owed to foreign partners had positively impacted investment and production rates.
He said outstanding dues declined from $6.1 billion on June 30, 2024 to $1.3 billion in March 2026, then to $714 million in April and $440 million in May 2026, adding that all arrears are expected to be fully settled by June 10, ahead of the previously announced June 30 deadline.
The minister also reviewed the 2026 exploratory and development drilling plan in the Mediterranean Sea and the expected production start dates for projects implemented by several international companies, including Shell, BP, Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil. He highlighted several major discoveries, including a significant new gas and crude oil discovery by Agiba Petroleum Company in the Western Desert through the “South Boustan-1” exploratory well, describing it as the company’s largest discovery in 15 years.
The discovery is expected to provide around 330 billion cubic feet of natural gas and about 10 million barrels of condensates and crude oil, with total reserves estimated at nearly 70 million barrels of oil equivalent. Badawi also referred to the start of drilling operations at a new well in the “Narges” natural gas field in the Mediterranean, which is expected to boost domestic gas production and reduce import costs, thereby supporting Egypt’s energy security.
He pointed to recently announced plans by Shell and Chevron to drill the “Velox” well in the western Mediterranean, in addition to a memorandum of understanding signed between Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and TotalEnergies to explore petroleum potential in a maritime area in the western Mediterranean.