KEY POINTS
- Egypt unveils a five-year plan to drill 480 exploration wells worth over $5.7 billion.
- The move aims to reverse declining gas output and attract major international investors.
- Minister Badawy says new incentives and digital tools are boosting exploration confidence.
Egypt’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister, Karim Badawy, has unveiled an ambitious five-year exploration plan that will see the country drill 480 new oil and gas wells at an estimated cost of $5.7 billion.
The move signals Cairo’s renewed drive to strengthen energy independence and reinforce its status as a regional energy hub.
Announcing the plan at the 3rd World Energies Summit, Badawy said Egypt is gearing up to drill 101 wells in 2026 alone.
These will be spread across the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez, the Mediterranean, and the Nile Delta, regions that have long anchored the country’s oil and gas production.
The Western Desert, with 67 of the planned wells, remains the central focus of exploration efforts.
The minister described the new plan as a cornerstone of Egypt’s broader strategy to boost production and attract foreign investment amid growing global competition in energy exploration.
“We are entering a new phase of exploration designed to sustain growth, ensure energy security, and keep Egypt at the forefront of regional energy developments,” he said.
New Incentives and Partnerships Drive Momentum
Badawy noted that a wave of recent incentives and regulatory adjustments has re-energised exploration and production activities across the country.
In the past year alone, Egypt signed 21 new agreements with international energy companies, representing $1.1 billion in fresh investment.
During the same period, 300 new wells were brought into operation, helping to reverse months of declining gas output. August 2025 marked the first increase in production after a sustained downturn.
He highlighted ongoing collaborations with some of the world’s biggest energy players, including Italy’s Eni and Britain’s BP, both of which have announced substantial new investments, $8 billion and $5 billion respectively, to develop new exploration fields.
Additionally, four new deals worth $340 million have been signed with Eni, Shell, and Arkeus Energy to further expand Egypt’s upstream operations.
Badawy stressed that these developments align with a strategic roadmap extending to 2030, designed to sustain production growth and attract new technologies into the sector.
