Vienna, Austria— Egypt plans to drill new gas wells in the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta as part of its ambitious $1.8 billion offshore exploration program.
According to Tarek El Molla, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the country is developing several exp fields in the Mediterranean Sea, Nile Delta, and Western Desert to boost the country’s production capacity.
The program, which involves major international companies, including Eni, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, aims to drill 35 exploratory gas wells from now till July 2025, with 21 planned for the 2023/2024 fiscal year and 14 for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, with total investments of US$1.8 billion.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 8th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna, Austria, El Molla stressed that the Egyptian petroleum sector and its international partners have been busy exploring new oil and gas resources over the past five years, discovering 284 new fields, including 217 oil wells and 67 gas wells.
These new fields have added 1.32 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to the country’s reserves, he added.
The minister also explained how Egypt’s oil and gas production covers most of the country’s energy demand, noting that fossil fuels account for 93 percent of primary energy sources in the country, and supply some 75 percent for local consumption while the remainder is imported.
“The Egyptian government has decided to speed up its transition to clean energy in the electricity sector, so that renewable energy capacity should contribute 42% of power capacity by 2035,” he noted.
On the oil market outlook for the next year, the minister said that OPEC adopts decisions that are “responsive to market changes and supply-demand dynamics,” expecting oil prices to range between $70-80 over the coming period.