Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has unveiled a series of new incentives designed to increase crude oil and natural gas production. This initiative, a key objective of the sector, will be pursued in collaboration with partners involved in exploration, drilling and production activities.
During a wide-ranging meeting with international oil production partners, Badawi stressed that the move underscores the sector’s commitment to improving the investment climate. Encouraging partners to invest more is expected to boost oil and gas production, as investments are crucial to supporting and increasing oil production.
The Minister explained that these incentives include new mechanisms aimed at increasing production beyond current levels and improving exploration and development drilling and production operations. Part of the revenue from the increase in production will be used to pay part of the partners’ fees to provide additional gas and oil to bridge the gap between domestic production and consumption and reduce monthly import costs. This will free up more financial resources for both sides, increase investment in exploration and production activities, generate revenue for the state and contribute to national security by ensuring a steady supply of locally produced petroleum.
Partners present at the meeting, including senior officials from the ministry, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and holding companies, praised the initiative as an important step towards intensifying activities and increasing production.
Samih Sabri, Senior Vice President of Wintershall Dea, noted that the initiative comes at the right time and shows a strong understanding of the challenges facing the oil industry, particularly in developing new reserves, increasing production and maintaining production levels in the face of the natural decline in production volumes.
Iman Hill, General Manager of Valeo Energy in Egypt, described the initiative as impressive and presented in a transparent manner and stressed that it represents a crucial step in addressing the challenges facing the industry. She noted that the real challenge lies in implementation, which must be overcome.
Dalia El-Gabry, President of Shell Egypt, praised the initiative as bold and stressed that its success depends on consistent application and continuity. She underlined the importance of productive cooperation, which is essential to achieving mutual benefits, especially given the trust-building potential that the initiative offers.
Nicholas Katcharov, regional director of the Greek energy company Energean, also stressed the importance of continuity in implementation and described the initiative as positive.
In a related development, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has launched a new global tender for natural gas and crude oil exploration in 12 sectors in the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta for 2024. The tender covers 10 offshore sectors and two onshore sectors and will be conducted through Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG).
This offer is in line with the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to attract new investments to Egypt and is in line with its strategy to exploit promising opportunities in gas and oil exploration, particularly in the Mediterranean region, which is considered a major natural gas basin.
Minister Badawi explained that this gas exploration offer supports Egypt’s broader strategy to intensify exploration activities in the Mediterranean region, as interest in discovering natural gas reserves and increasing natural gas production is growing and natural gas has become a crucial component of the local and global energy mix.
He further noted that this is the eighth tender conducted using the latest digital tools through EUG, which the Ministry launched in early 2021. The platform provides easy, fast and convenient access to key information and up-to-date technical data on the tenders, thus speeding up the evaluation of investment opportunities and submission of proposals.
In addition, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the availability of additional investment opportunities in exploration and field development in open areas accessible through the EUG. Through the portal, interested companies can view all available geological and production data and submit their bids directly, increasing the transparency and efficiency of the tender process and encouraging further investment.
