Following the opening this Monday of international bidding for gas exploration of 23 open blocks by Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry, the country awarded four blocks in an oil and gas exploration bid round in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta.
These went to Italy’s Eni, the UK’s BP, QatarEnergy and Russia’s Zarubezhneft, according to a ministry announced on September 26, 2023.
Eni will take two of the blocks will share a third one in partnership with BP and QatarEnergy. Zarubezhneft will take the fourth.
Of the 23 sites announced, 10 are in the Western Desert, two in the Eastern Desert, seven in the Suez Gulf, and four in the Red Sea.
The deadline for final bids are set for February 25, 2024.
Read: Egypt oil and gas sector gets boost with new $1.4 bn investment
Eni, BP, Qatar Energy, and Zarubezhneft are expected to invest about $281 million in digging a minimum of 12 wells throughout the exploration process.
The country’s energy ambitions were boosted in 2015 when ENI discovered Zohr, an offshore natural gas site in the Egyptian Exclusive Economic Zone. It is the largest gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean region, holding an estimated 850 billion cubic meters of gas.
In March, QatarEnergy, one of the current winning bidders, purchased 40 percent of an Egyptian offshore exploration area in the Mediterranean’s North Maraca marine area.
Last Aug. 28, BP pledged to invest $3.5 billion in gas exploration in Egypt over the next three years. Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla said the very next day that his government plans to invest $1.5 billion into drilling 35 natural gas wells by 2025.
The country has revised its projected total oil and natural gas investments to $9 billion during the fiscal year 2023/2024.
Over the past five years, Egypt’s petroleum sector explored 576 new natural gas wells and made 289 new oil and gas discoveries, in conjunction with international companies.
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