Egypt Invites Bids to Explore Oil & Gas in 12 Blocks

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has launched a new international 2024 bid round for the exploration and exploitation of natural gas and crude oil in 12 blocks in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta.

This includes 10 offshore blocks and two onshore blocks, through Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), EGAS said.

This bid round is part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ efforts to attract new investments to Egypt, in line with its strategy to exploit promising opportunities in the field of gas and oil exploration, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, which holds significant potential as a promising basin for natural gas.

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi explained that the launch of this bid round for natural gas exploration supports Egypt’s direction toward intensifying exploration activities in the Mediterranean, especially in light of the growing interest in achieving new discoveries and increasing natural gas production, which has become a crucial element in both the local and global energy mix.

He also said that this was the eighth bid round of its kind to be launched using the latest digital tools through Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), which the ministry launched at the beginning of 2021.It provides seamless access to the essential and all updated technical data related to bid rounds, speeding up the process of evaluating investment opportunities and submitting bids.

In this regard, Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announced the availability of additional investment opportunities in exploration, and field development, in open areas.

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, highlighted that increasing exploration and discovery efforts are vital for enhancing natural gas production, which is becoming increasingly important in both the local and global energy landscape. Interested parties have until 25 February 2025 to submit their bids for the blocks.

According to GlobalData, oil and gas in Egypt registered an 88.83% share of the country’s cumulative installed energy capacity in 2023. 

The production of crude oil and condensates in Egypt in 2024 is expected to be 605,722 barrels per day (bpd), according to GlobalData’s research, making the nation one of the leading producers of oil and gas in Africa. 

Egypt, which is planning to become a major hub for natural gas after recent discoveries such as the Zohr, a giant offshore gas field registering an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, is the second-largest producer of natural gas in Africa following Algeria, and the fourth-largest holder of natural gas reserves in the continent.

It may be recalled that Egypt has signed three investment deals to enhance its oil and gas production in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Suez with Shell Egypt, Petronus Gas and Cheiron Energy totalling $340 million at the end of July this year.

New Discovery

In a related development, Khalda Petroleum Company, operating in the Kalabsha Development Area of the Egyptian Western Desert, announced a new oil discovery in the West Fewebs-1 area.

The well was tested by drilling 270 feet into the Paleozoic sands, and the recovery on a 1-inch production opening was 7,165 barrels of oil per day with a quality of 44 degrees and 23 million cubic feet of associated gas.

Electrical logs of the well confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon indications in the Paleozoic component with a total net thickness of 462 feet.