After four years of declines, Egypt’s oil and gas production has started to rise in recent weeks, providing much-needed relief to the import bill of the North African country.
Since August, Egypt’s natural gas production has increased by more than 200 million cubic feet per day, according to data from Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources cited by local news outlet Cairo Scene.
The rise in oil and gas production has helped Egypt reduce its fuel import bill by $3.6 billion and settle $1 billion in arrears owed to international partners, the ministry said.
In recent months, UK supermajor BP announced the start of production from the second development phase of the Raven field offshore Egypt, which involves the subsea tieback of additional Raven infill wells to its existing onshore infrastructure as part of the West Nile Delta (WND) project. BP has also made a new gas discovery in the North Alexandria Offshore Concession, with plans underway to tie back the discovery to the WND Gas Development.
Shell has connected six new wells at West Delta Deep Marine and announced a final investment decision (FID) to develop the Mina West gas discovery in Egypt’s Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt turned from a net LNG exporter to a net LNG importer at the end of 2024 as the country imported last year the highest number of LNG cargoes in years, as it looked to ease the strain on its grid and industry amid energy shortages that led to rolling blackouts last summer.
The biggest gas discovery in the Mediterranean, Zohr, helped Egypt become a net LNG exporter in the late 2010s.
However, plummeting domestic onshore gas production, rising demand for power generation, and more intense heat waves have combined in recent years to lift Egyptian demand for imported LNG.
In a bid to revitalize domestic production, Egypt has just launched a new oil and gas bid round and is inviting international companies to bid for 13 offshore and onshore blocks in a licensing round as it aims to boost domestic oil and gas production. Companies are invited to bid by September 30, 2025, on six new exploration areas and seven undeveloped discoveries.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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