Egypt Sign Agreement with US Chevron to Drill First Exploration Well in Eastern Mediterranean

According to the petroleum ministry, Egypt's state-owned gas business and Chevron Corp of the United States signed a preliminary deal on Monday to explore transporting natural gas from offshore Mediterranean fields to Egypt for processing and export.

According to the government, the memorandum of agreement inked by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and Chevron will include natural gas transportation, import, liquefaction, and export from the eastern Mediterranean.

Chevron also expects to drill its first exploratory well in a concession region in the eastern Mediterranean in September, according to the company.

They decided to organise a negotiating group to negotiate an agreement on future natural gas projects in the East Mediterranean.

The two businesses will evaluate options for natural gas transmission in the East Mediterranean to Egypt in order to optimise its value through liquefaction before re-exporting and selling it, according to the MoU.

In addition, the two firms will perform research on low-carbon natural gas.

Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla met with Michael Wirth, Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation, and his entourage.

The topic of bilateral collaboration as well as Chevron's research and exploration operations were discussed.

Egypt, according to Molla, has solid infrastructure that may be linked to the region's gas producing fields, as well as good contacts with partners in the eastern Mediterranean.

For his part, Wirth stated that his business intends to drill the first exploratory well in its concession area in the East Mediterranean in September, and that seismic studies have been positive.

He stated that seismic work in Chevron's concession in the Red Sea has progressed and that the region's hydrocarbon potential is enormous.