Arab Finance: International oil companies (IOCs) are committed to pumping investments exceeding $19 billion into Egypt’s petroleum sector under three-year executive programs announced by these firms, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated.

Madbouly noted that Egypt allocated $8 billion from Eni, $5 billion from bp, $2 billion from the UAE-based Arcius Energy, and $4 billion from Apache, reflecting global confidence in the Egyptian economy amidst current global events.

During the Cabinet’s weekly meeting, the prime minister emphasized the government's full commitment to settling its dues to foreign partners, after reducing arrears to $714 million currently from $6.1 billion in June 2024. The remaining $714 million is scheduled to be fully repaid before the end of June.

Addressing the latest achievement in the energy sector, Madbouly unveiled a new natural gas discovery in the Nile Delta, with production rates estimated at around 50 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d).

He emphasized that the competitive advantage of this discovery lies in its proximity to the shore, which will enable the country to bring it into production by this summer.

Madbouly recently inspected the Al Qahir-2 drilling rig in the Mediterranean Sea to follow up on the latest developments at the Denise W-1X exploratory well. The operation had promising results, with reserves estimated at around 2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, in addition to approximately 130 million barrels of condensate.

Expected to come online in the second half (H2) of 2027, the field’s daily output would range between 500 and 600 million cubic feet (Mcf), representing around 8%-10% of Egypt's total natural gas needs from a single field.

The prime minister mentioned that this year would witness further promising discoveries as per technical studies conducted by international companies. This falls within the government’s efforts to reduce the import bill and allow Egypt to achieve self-sufficiency in its energy needs, especially natural gas.

Last week, Madbouly set new sale prices for natural gas supplied to certain industrial activities and the petrochemicals sector.

The decision followed a review of relevant laws governing the industrial sector and gas market, as well as recommendations from a committee tasked with reassessing gas pricing for various industrial activities.