Egypt Seeks New Investment to Lift Oil and Gas Output

At an October roundtable, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi met Cypriot Energy Minister Michael Damianos, East Mediterranean Gas Forum Secretary-General Osama Mobarez and executives from companies operating in Egypt. Discussions focused on attracting investment and raising production. Badawi said the ministry wanted to deepen regional cooperation and establish Egypt as a regional energy hub.

The government plans to bring discoveries into production and connect them to existing infrastructure, which it says can lower costs and improve returns. Egypt is also seeking to reduce its reliance on mature fields, including the giant Zohr gas field. The country has gas transport, reception, trading and liquefaction facilities, as well as access to regional markets.

Badawi said Egypt brought 591 new wells into production and made 113 discoveries between July 2024 and June 2026. He also said the country had attracted more investment after paying outstanding debts owed to exploration, discovery and production partners.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has set out a five-year energy strategy that includes doubling crude oil and condensate production. The government plans to invest more than $4 billion to modernise six refineries, increase domestic output of higher-value petroleum products and reduce fuel imports. The strategy also covers seismic surveys, advanced technologies, new contract terms and the development of discoveries not yet producing. Al-Sisi has called for further incentives for international partners.

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi told Al-Sisi the company planned to drill 30 exploration wells and 200 development wells. Eni says it has invested about $8.5 billion in Egypt and produced approximately 242,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day there in 2025 through its subsidiary International Egyptian Oil Company.

The company is developing projects across the Mediterranean, Nile Delta, Sinai and Western Desert, using existing infrastructure to bring output online faster. Eni reported a 50 per cent increase in production from its offshore Sinai fields. Its April discovery in the offshore Temsah Concession has preliminary estimates of 2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 130 million barrels of associated condensate. The site is less than 10 km from existing infrastructure; Eni said in August that first gas was expected in under two years.

Eni also announced a second phase of its Meleiha project in the Merged Meleiha concession. The planned Western Desert facility is expected to process up to 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day once operational, increasing supply for Egypt’s domestic market, the company said.