TotalEnergies has expressed strong interest in exploring the deepwater potential of Egypt’s Herodotus Basin in the Western Mediterranean, following high-level discussions with Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi in Cairo.
During the meeting, the French energy giant’s delegation reviewed the basin’s exploratory potential and discussed the possibility of implementing an intensive exploration programme. The Herodotus Basin spans over 90,000 square kilometres and represents a promising yet underexplored deepwater frontier with significant hydrocarbon potential.
Badawi emphasised that broadening exploration activities and offering new opportunities to international companies are central pillars of Egypt’s strategy to grow gas production. He highlighted recent seismic survey programmes in new areas as having already yielded promising investment prospects, and outlined new incentive models being introduced for exploration in frontier zones including the Western Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Southern Western Desert.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to sign a framework cooperation agreement between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and TotalEnergies in the near term. The Herodotus Basin is also the focus of Shell Egypt’s active 2026 Mediterranean drilling campaign, which includes the Velox exploration well in the North Cleopatra area.
Source: Egypt Oil & Gas