Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has directed the country’s petroleum sector to accelerate the adoption of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies, calling for a new phase of output growth as Egypt works to reduce its dependence on petroleum imports and improve energy self-sufficiency.
At a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi, El-Sisi stressed the importance of localising advanced drilling technologies and deploying them economically in partnership with major international service companies and production partners. He also emphasised the urgency of maintaining timely payments to international oil companies as a prerequisite for attracting increased exploration and development investment.
Badawi said the sector is already moving to deploy these technologies to access resources that conventional drilling methods cannot economically reach, with the aim of boosting both crude oil and natural gas output. He also reaffirmed the sector’s commitment to gradually settling overdue payments while keeping up with regular monthly obligations.
Egypt’s progress on clearing its arrears to foreign partners has been substantial. Prime Minister Madbouly announced in January that the country had cleared approximately $5 billion in outstanding payments, bringing total arrears down from a mid-2024 peak of $6.1 billion. The outstanding debt is expected to fall to $1.2 billion by end of June 2026 — a level Madbouly described as the standard commercial rate — in a step the government says will sharpen Egypt’s appeal as an investment destination for upstream oil and gas activity.
Source: egyptoil-gas.com