State-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has initiated an international bidding round for exploration and exploitation of natural gas and crude oil across 12 blocks.  

The offering comprises ten offshore and two onshore blocks in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta. 

This bid round seeks to attract new investments to Egypt, supporting the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources' strategy to explore lucrative oil and gas opportunities, especially in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea. 

Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, highlighted that increasing exploration and discovery efforts are vital for enhancing natural gas production, which is becoming increasingly important in both the local and global energy landscape. 

Interested parties have until 25 February 2025 to submit their bids for the blocks. 

In a separate development, Khalda Petroleum Company, which operates in the Kalabsha Development Area of the Egyptian Western Desert, announced a new oil discovery.  

The West Fewebs-1 area well yielded 7,165 barrels of oil per day and 23 million cubic feet of associated gas when tested over a 270ft section of Paleozoic sands.  

Electrical logs of the well verified hydrocarbon signs in the Paleozoic layer, with a total net thickness of 462ft. 

These developments come after Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly outlined the country's ambition to restore its oil and gas production to former levels by 2025.  

During a press conference on 21 August, Madbouly spoke of plans to collaborate with international partners to boost production.  

The leader added that there is a very clear plan “to bring the volume of production of oil and natural gas with foreign partners back to previous levels, and to also increase it in the coming period”.