Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has finalized a new agreement for oil exploration and production in the East Gemsa offshore region of the Gulf of Suez, involving investments of over 30 million dollars with the PICO Cheiron Group. The agreement includes a one million dollar grant for drilling four new wells.
Minister of Petroleum Karim Badawi stated that the agreement aligns with the first pillar of the ministry’s strategic plan by enhancing crude oil exploration to discover new reservoirs and bolster Egypt’s production capacity, ultimately supporting domestic supply and helping to decrease import costs. He added that the agreement demonstrates successful collaboration with the Egyptian private sector and fosters additional private investment in exploration and production. Badawi emphasized the ministry’s dedication to collaborating closely with partners and fostering an investment-friendly environment while implementing new technologies to enhance the value of existing reserves and discover new ones. He highlighted the Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez as regions with significant potential for new crude oil discoveries.
In related developments, Khalda Petroleum Company announced a new natural gas discovery in the Western Desert in November, following drilling and electrical logging that confirmed the presence of gas with an estimated production rate of approximately 36 million cubic feet per day. Khalda Petroleum is a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and US-based Apache Corporation. In September, EGPC entered into an agreement with Apache for exploration and development that includes five new blocks, involving the drilling of 14 wells in the Western Desert with a total investment of 35 million dollars and a 25 million dollar signing bonus. Apache has been operating in Egypt since the mid-1990s and is a key producer in the Western Desert.
Additionally, in August 2025, Khalda Petroleum Company announced an oil discovery in the West Fewebs-1 area. The well was drilled to a depth of 270 feet into the Paleozoic sands, yielding a production rate of 7,165 barrels of oil per day through a one-inch opening, with an oil quality of 44 degrees and 23 million cubic feet of accompanying gas.Source: economymiddleeast.com