Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, announced plans to increase foreign investments in the oil and gas sector by approximately 25% in the upcoming fiscal year 2025/2024 to reach $7.5 billion, he said on the sidelines of Egypt’s Petroleum Exhibition and Conference “EGYPS 2024”.
Foreign investments
This is compared to the expected $6 billion in the current fiscal year 2023/2024, which concludes at the end of June, El-Molla highlighted.
Foreign investments in Egypt’s oil and gas sector increased to $5.6 billion in FY 2022/2023, up from $4.7 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to data from the petroleum ministry.
Regarding the gas sector, the minister highlighted that Egypt’s current gas production has dropped to 5.5 billion cubic feet due to field aging and well depletion. He explained that Egypt is actively working to address this decline, especially as geopolitical events have negatively affected some new exploration activities.
Furthermore, the minister noted that natural gas exports during the winter months fluctuated between 3 to 4 shipments per month. He emphasized that there would be no exports during the summer to fulfill the domestic market’s demands during the upcoming high-temperature season.
Other investments
Dragon Oil, a subsidiary of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) specializing in oil and gas exploration, development, and production, has unveiled plans to invest $500 million in Egypt this year, CEO Ali Al Jarwan announced during EGYPs on February 21.
The investment will focus on drilling new wells and maintaining a production rate of 61,000 barrels of oil per day, Al Jarwan said. Additionally, Dragon Oil aims to increase production by 33% to reach 8,000 barrels per day next year.
In 2020, Dragon Oil acquired 100% of BP Egypt’s rights in a deal valued at $850 million, making it the partner of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation in all oil production and exploration concessions in the Gulf of Suez, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, US-based IPR Energy is planning to invest $250 million in Egypt in the upcoming years, aiming to address relatively low receivables from the Petroleum Authority due to its high collection rate in the past period, according to Mahmoud Dabbous, the founder and CEO of the group. Dabbous stated that 60% of the company’s projects are self-financed, with the remaining percentage sourced from bank financing.
Despite accumulated receivables in Egypt, Energy International reaffirmed its commitment to investing in the country’s oil and gas sector. CEO Mathias Regis emphasized the company’s understanding of Egypt’s challenges and announced a $250 million investment in the Abu Qir field. He also mentioned that production has exceeded 150 million cubic feet per day in the North Maria and North Idku fields. Additionally, the company is collaborating with Eni to drill the Orion well in northern Egypt, with exploration results expected in the coming weeks.
