Egypt eyes new gas discoveries as output expansion gains pace

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is expected to announce two new natural gas discoveries, each holding reserves estimated between 1-2 trillion cubic feet, according to a government official cited by CNN Arabic on April 26. 

The findings are said to be comparable to a recent discovery announced earlier in April by Eni.

The official added that one of the discoveries is linked to Shell (LSE:SHEL) and the other to BP (LSE:BP), with the ministry targeting production start-up as early as next year, or by early 2028 at the latest. The development is part of Egypt’s ongoing efforts to strengthen domestic gas supply and reduce reliance on imports.

Separately, Agiba Petroleum, a joint venture between Italian energy major Eni (BIT:ENI) and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, is planning to boost its oil and gas output by around 44% to reach 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day starting in July, up from roughly 45,000 currently.

The increase is driven by the second phase of the Meleiha concession in Egypt’s Western Desert coming on stream. Gas production alone is expected to surge to approximately 150mn cubic feet per day, compared with about 40mn currently, according to sources cited by Asharq Bloomberg.

The project is estimated to involve investments of around $500mn and is being executed in cooperation with Petrojet and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), which are overseeing engineering, procurement and operational activities.