Four international companies win Egypt's oil and gas exploration bid for 23 sites

Four international companies won bids for oil and gas exploration in Egypt's Mediterranean and Nile Delta, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced in an official statement on Tuesday, 26 September.

Eni, BP, Qatar Energy, and Zarubezhneft won the bids and are expected to invest about US$281 million in digging at least 12 wells throughout the exploration process in the two areas.

No further details were immediately available about the deals until the time of publication.

Earlier on Monday, the ministry declared it had put forward a tender to explore oil in 23 sites, including 10 in the Western Desert, two in the Eastern Desert, seven in the Suez Gulf, and four in the Red Sea.

The tender was launched by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE). Bids will be accepted until 25 February 2024.

According to local news reports, Egypt aims to dig 35 new exploratory natural gas wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta worth US$1.8 billion by 2025.

The North African country has revised its projected total oil and natural gas investments to US$9 billion during the fiscal year 2023/2024.

Over the past five years, Egypt's petroleum sector dug 576 new exploratory natural gas wells and made 289 new oil and gas discoveries cooperatively with international companies.