Petroleum agreements …. The Pillar of attracting investment

and increasing production

Petroleum and gas exploration and exploitation concession agreements are considered the backbone of the petroleum sector in particular, and of the national economy in general, as they represent a fundamental pillar in attracting both direct and indirect investments to this vital sector. Through these agreements, international, regional, and Egyptian companies inject billions of dollars in exploration, development, and production activities, thereby contributing to increasing the national income and supporting the state treasury. The expansion of exploration and development operations, coupled with higher production rates, directly contributes to reducing imports and lowering operating costs, which ultimately serves the national economy and strengthens Egypt's energy security.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources provides an interactive concession map that enables access to current agreements, exploration areas, and production zones across the Arab Republic of Egypt through the following link:

https://eug.petroleum.gov.eg/dp/jsp/new_live/pre_concession.jsp

As part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources' objectives and strategies to attract further investments in petroleum agreements, a comprehensive plan has been developed with the following goals:

Developing petroleum and natural gas resources.
Strengthening national energy security.
Achieving self-sufficiency in oil and natural gas.
Ensuring fair geographic distribution of development plans across the country.
Preserving a strategic reserve of petroleum and natural gas resources to meet the needs of future generations.

Implementing this ambitious plan requires significant investments to develop the petroleum and gas industry's infrastructure, including pipeline networks, production facilities, and further expansion in petroleum, gas, refining, and petrochemical activities.

To encourage international partners to inject additional investments—particularly given the high costs of developing deep-water discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and other frontier areas, as well as the associated risks—the new petroleum agreements have incorporated incentive provisions designed to:

Ensure a fair return on investment.
Accelerate bringing discoveries into production to meet local market needs, especially natural gas.
Strike a balance between the interests of the state and those of foreign partners.

In this context, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the launch of a new package of incentives aimed at encouraging increased production of crude oil and natural gas. He emphasized that these incentives reflect the sector's commitment to improving the investment climate and encouraging foreign partners to inject additional investments that will help boost production rates.

The new incentives include:

Implementing new mechanisms conditional on achieving production increases above current levels.
Intensifying exploratory and development drilling activities.
Allocating part of the revenues from increased production to settle a portion of partners' receivables.
Directing part of the additional production to narrow the gap between production and local consumption, thereby reducing the monthly import bill.
Enhancing the financial resources of both the state and its partners, supporting the continuation of future investments, delivering direct returns to the state, and reinforcing national energy security.

The petroleum sector has also demonstrated flexibility in adopting diverse contractual models alongside traditional production sharing agreements. Bid rounds have been launched for mature fields under the exploration and production services system, while new contractual frameworks are being studied to address the technical and economic challenges of deep-water areas and frontier regions, in line with the following map:

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources continuously seeks to expand the number of petroleum agreements through regular international bid rounds launched by its affiliated companies (EGPC – EGAS – Ganope). In addition, the Ministry offers a wide range of investment opportunities, including mature fields, undeveloped discoveries in the Mediterranean, as well as onshore and offshore exploration areas available year-round via the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG):

https://eug.petroleum.gov.eg

These efforts come within the framework of the state's strategy to transform Egypt into a regional energy hub, attracting major international companies to invest and operate in the Egyptian oil and gas sector. This contributes to increasing production rates, creating added value for the national economy, and strengthening Egypt's position on the global energy map.

Below are some key statistics on petroleum agreements during the period from July 2014 to June 2025:

A total of 15 international bid rounds were launched, resulting in the award of 60 exploration blocks for oil and gas to international companies, with minimum investments of approximately USD 2.912 billion and signature bonuses of around USD 321.85 million. In addition, several investment opportunities were awarded alongside the international bid rounds. The Ministry of Petroleum remains committed to continuously offering new blocks through bid rounds and investment opportunities.
152 new petroleum agreements were signed with international companies for oil and gas exploration, with minimum investments of approximately USD 23.856 billion and signature bonuses totaling USD 1.395 billion, covering a minimum of 566 exploration wells. In addition, 10 concession agreements have been ratified by law and are awaiting final signature.
During fiscal year 2024/2025, a total of 25 agreements were concluded with international companies to intensify exploration and production activities, increase output, and attract new investments. These agreements included total non-refundable signature bonuses of USD 69.5 million and minimum investments of USD 1.225 billion to drill 115 new wells. Of these, 15 agreements have already been signed, while 10 agreements have been ratified and are awaiting final signature.
A total of 158 development leases were signed for new petroleum discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea, Western Desert, Eastern Desert, and Gulf of Suez.