Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi attended the signing of agreements between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and several leading international oil and gas companies.
The signing comes as part of the ministry’s strategy to boost investments and attract global partners for exploration and production in Egypt.
The first agreement reassigns the North Sinai Offshore area to Brenco Egypt, with investments of $46 million to drill three wells, in addition to a $1 million signing bonus.
The agreement was signed by EGPC CEO Salah Abdel-Karim and Raafat El-Beltagy, general manager and representative of Brenco, in the presence of John Rock, CEO of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Holding Company, owner of Brenco Egypt.
The second agreement is a concession for the East Hamad area awarded to the UAE’s Dragon Oil, following its success in an EGPC bid round.
The agreement entails $40.5 million in investments to drill three wells, with a $4.5 million signing bonus.
It was signed by EGPC CEO Salah Abdel-Karim and Tayeb Hweir, executive director of operations at Dragon Oil, in the presence of Abdulkarim Almazmi, chairman of Dragon Oil.
The third agreement was signed with global energy company Apache for the integrated exploration and development area in the Western Desert, adding five new exploration blocks.
Investments will total $35 million, including drilling 14 wells, along with a $25 million signing bonus.
The agreement was signed by EGPC CEO Salah Abdel-Karim and Greg McDaniel, executive vice president of Apache’s International Assets and general manager of Apache Egypt.
After the signings, Minister Badawi affirmed that the agreements reflect growing confidence from international companies in Egypt’s petroleum investment climate.
He also highlighted the ministry’s success in launching competitive bid rounds and applying incentive policies that have opened new horizons for exploration and strengthened plans to boost production and secure domestic market needs.
Egypt’s oil and gas sector has ended four consecutive years of falling production and, since August 2025, has entered a new phase of gradual recovery, the petroleum ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The ministry reported that natural gas output has risen by more than 200 million cubic feet per day, enabling the government to slash the fuel import bill by $3.6 billion and settle $1 billion in arrears owed to international partners.
Badawi said production decline reached its peak in mid-2025, but the sector has since “returned to the right track,” supported by structural reforms, new incentives, and renewed international investor confidence.
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