Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, headed by Karim Badawi, signed two major agreements during the ADIPEC 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi, aimed at elevating the country’s gas-exploration efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean and advancing its digital investment infrastructure in the energy sector.
The deals form part of Egypt’s broader strategy to draw in foreign investment in upstream oil and gas activity, deploying advanced geological and digital tools to improve investment attractiveness and reduce operational risk.
The first agreement outlines the implementation of a large-scale 3-D seismic survey using Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) technology across 95,000 km² in Egypt’s Eastern Mediterranean waters.
The project is between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and a consortium of SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Veridien, following their successful bid.
The programme will run in three phases, commencing in 2026 with an initial 18,000 km², with the goal of acquiring high-resolution subsurface data to pinpoint promising gas finds.
The second agreement extends the tenure of the national digital platform, the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), for a further three years. The extension, between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and SLB, involves new investments of $44 million to upgrade the platform’s capabilities. Launched in 2021, EUG has already helped attract over $1.2 billion in exploration-and-production investments, supported activity in 52 blocks and facilitated drilling of some 130 wells.
The platform currently hosts about 50 global and local firms and provides access to specialised geological and seismic data.
Badawi described the expansion of EUG as “a qualitative leap in Egypt’s petroleum investment environment… streamlining contracting, reducing risks, and improving operational efficiency for international players”.
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