Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, has affirmed that securing energy supplies and meeting domestic demand remain national priorities, requiring increased investment, intensified exploration and accelerated development of new discoveries.
Speaking on Monday at the opening ministerial session, “The Future of Energy”, at the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh, Badawi highlighted President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s commitment to ensuring successful investments across energy, mining and other sectors, as outlined at Egypt Mining Forum.
He outlined reforms introduced over the past two years, including settling arrears to international partners, introducing incentives for mature fields and exploration, strengthening investor engagement and digitising opportunities through the Egypt Upstream Gateway.
These measures have supported BP’s accelerated production from the Fayoum-4 well, Arkeous’s Harmattan investment decision and Shell’s investment in West Delta Deep Marine Phase 12A.
ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy are preparing offshore drilling, Badawi said, adding that BP and Shell have intensified Mediterranean gas drilling.
Chevron, for its part, has resumed operations at Nargis, and TotalEnergies has returned to Western Mediterranean exploration.
Badawi stressed that Egypt’s strategic infrastructure, including the Suez Canal, SUMED pipeline, national gas grid, Idku and Damietta liquefaction facilities and oil refineries, positions the country as a regional energy hub linking Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Regional co-operation includes plans to process Cypriot gas from the Cronos field through Egyptian infrastructure for liquefaction in Damietta and export to Europe from 2028.
The Aphrodite field and discoveries in Cyprus’s Block 10 offer further opportunities.
The minister also highlighted expanding refining and petrochemicals, maximising value-added production and improving energy efficiency.
He advocated a realistic, gradual energy transition aligned with development priorities, maintaining natural gas’s role in electricity generation while expanding renewables and exploring green hydrogen.
