Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, represented Egypt at the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, held under the theme “Energy Security and Shared Goals in a New Era”.
The meeting was inaugurated by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Minister of Energy, and Sun Xiansheng, Secretary-General of the IEF, with the participation of energy ministers, global business leaders and heads of international energy organisations.
In his address, Minister Badawi stressed that energy security is a shared responsibility requiring sustained investment in oil and gas, exploration and production, infrastructure, technology and operational efficiency, alongside resilience against market disruptions.
He highlighted the need to balance reliable supplies, affordability and environmental sustainability through integrated solutions, noting that energy transitions must reflect countries’ differing resources, infrastructure and consumption patterns.
Energy remains essential to industrial growth, job creation and development, particularly in emerging economies.
The minister outlined Egypt’s priorities, including increasing domestic oil and gas production through an attractive investment climate, accelerated exploration and field development with investment partners, and advanced technologies to improve recovery rates, reduce costs and emissions, and enhance efficiency in both new and mature fields.
Egypt also aims to maximise the value of its petroleum resources by optimising refining capacity, expanding petrochemicals and value-added industries, meeting domestic demand, reducing imports and strengthening industrial localisation.
Natural gas remains vital to electricity system stability as renewable capacity expands, alongside supply diversification, efficiency, rationalised consumption and exploration of hydrogen opportunities.
Investment reforms include introducing incentives, improving contractual frameworks and providing digital access to data and opportunities through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), encouraging greater investment and drilling activity.
Highlighting regional integration, Minister Badawi cited Egypt’s gas network, Idku and Damietta liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, refineries, Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline as strategic assets underpinning its regional energy hub role.
He also presented Cyprus’s Cronos gas field project as a model of co-operation, enabling Cypriot gas to be transported to Egypt for processing and liquefaction before export to European markets, with potential to build on this framework for wider regional co-operation.
