Chevron has commenced drilling a new natural gas well at Egypt’s Narges field in the Mediterranean — opening a strategic campaign that the US energy giant says is designed to increase its regional production capacity by as much as 50 per cent over the next five years, in a move that aligns directly with Egypt’s urgent national priority of boosting domestic gas supply and cutting its import bill.
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi personally inspected the launch of drilling operations aboard the drillship Stena Forth, which arrived in Egypt to commence the campaign. Badawi stated that the new well is part of the ministry’s coordinated effort to encourage international companies to accelerate the exploitation of undeveloped gas discoveries, describing the development of fields like Narges as a primary ministerial goal. He praised Chevron and its partners — Italian energy major Eni, the UAE’s Mubadala, and Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum Company — for their commitment to working with the Egyptian petroleum sector and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to overcome obstacles and expedite drilling programmes.
Chevron’s President of Exploration Operations, Clay Neff, confirmed that the company is moving forward with plans to drill two new gas wells this year — one at Narges and a second in the Western Mediterranean in partnership with Shell. Neff described Egypt and the broader Eastern Mediterranean as core pillars of Chevron’s investment roadmap, with the 50 per cent production increase target reflecting the company’s intent to strengthen cash generation and significantly enhance profitability from the region. The Narges well represents one of the most concrete and visible expressions of Egypt’s accelerating push to reverse declining domestic gas production through intensive international operator engagement.
Source: zawya.com