Egypt’s state petroleum entities have signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with BP and Harbour Energy to establish the executive framework for jointly developing oil and gas reserves across two Mediterranean areas — the North King Mariout zone and the El Arish field — in what officials described as a push to maximise economic returns through integrated offshore operations.
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) signed the agreement with both companies on May 7, in the presence of Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi, who said the deal reflects Egypt’s commitment to accelerating gas production in line with its five-year output expansion plan.
Under the agreement, both companies will pursue development of the El Arish field under EGPC’s North Alexandria concession, while also advancing the North King Mariout area under EGAS. The integration of the two sites is intended to unlock greater combined economic value than standalone development would allow.
BP has separately pledged to invest $5 billion in Egypt over the next five years, and recent meetings between Badawi and senior BP executives reviewed the company’s active drilling programme in the Mediterranean, where the Valaris DS-12 rig has recently commenced operations.
Meanwhile, Harbour Energy has strengthened its Egyptian footprint through its $11.2 billion acquisition of Wintershall Dea’s upstream assets in late 2024, gaining interests in the West Nile Delta project alongside BP and the operatorship of the Disouq gas field. Harbour’s exploration success continues: the company recently recorded the first gas discovery in the Nile Delta in two years, at the North Sidi Ghazy 1-9 well in the Disouq concession.
The ministry has set a target of drilling 480 new exploration wells by 2030, with 101 scheduled for 2026 across Egypt’s major petroleum regions.
Source: egyptoil-gas.com