Egypt completely clears arrears to international oil and gas partners

The Egyptian government has achieved a significant strategic milestone by fully clearing its outstanding arrears to international oil and gas investment partners, bringing the total debt down to zero for the first time in years, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, said in a statement on June 10. 

The outstanding debt had previously accumulated to approximately $6.1bn in June 2024 due to prolonged economic and foreign liquidity challenges. By April this year, the debt went down to nearly $2bn. The government repaid $1.3bn across April and May, and cleared the remaining $700mn in June.

Badawi noted that resolving this long-standing issue was a top government priority, achieved through a highly coordinated effort linking the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Finance, and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The accumulation of arrears had previously caused international oil companies (IOCs) to scale back operations, slow down exploration timelines, and pause deepwater development. The government said earlier it aimed to drill 101 exploratory oil and gas wells throughout the remainder of 2026. The initiative forms part of a wider five-year development plan targeting the excavation of over 480 wells nationwide. Major international firms have announced extensive new capital commitments to expand production, including an $8bn investment plan from Italy's Eni (BIT:ENI) and a $5bn exploration framework from BP (LSE:BP).