E&P

Exploration & Production

Egypt signs agreements to increase oil & gas production

The agreements will boost production in the Mediterranean and Suez Gulf. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, has signed agreements to boost oil and gas production with Shell Egypt and Cheiron Energy to boost oil and gas production in the Mediterranean and Suez Gulf

The minister, Shell Egypt’s vice president and country chair Dalia El Gabry, and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) chairman Alaa El Batal have signed an agreement between EGPC, Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas to invest US$222mn in the 10th phase of gas production in the West Delta Deep offshore area to boost production. It will involve the drilling of three wells to produce natural gas and establish marine facilities to bring the wells into production.

Before the signing, Badawi and El Gabry held a meeting where the Minister stressed the government’s commitment to working with Shell, a key player in Egypt’s energy sector, to increase gas production in the Mediterranean, while El-Gabry confirmed Shell’s commitment to Egypt and its plans to invest in new exploration and production projects.

The minister also met with a delegation from Cheiron Energy and signed a US$120mn deal with the company and KUFPEC to boost oil production in the Suez Gulf. The agreement includes drilling nine wells in the Geisum and Tawila West area in the Suez Gulf, including three exploration wells. It is envisaged that the investment will increase oil and gas production in the Gulf of Suez from 21,000 bpd to 26,000 bpd.

Saipem scoops Saudi contracts worth US$500mn

The value of the two offshore projects together amounts to US$500mn. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Saipem has been awarded two offshore projects in Saudi Arabia, under the existing Long-Term Agreement (LTA) with Saudi Aramco, together amounting to US$500mn

Saipem’s scope of work under the first project involves the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) of a crude trunkline of approximately 50 km with a diameter of 42” for the Abu Safa Field, while the activities related to the second project involve the production maintenance programmes of the Berri and Manifa Fields.

Following the abandonment of its 13mn bpd maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) target earlier this year, Aramco is scaling back new greenfield projects, but is continuing with its already announced crude oil increment and maintenance projects to maintain MSC at 12mn bpd.

The award of these projects further boost Saipem’s strong position in the Middle East, where it won several contracts with Aramco and ADNOC last year. In January this year Saipem announced that it had completed the South Gas Compression Plant Pipelines project, designed to increase the life of a large number of gas wells in the Haradh & Hawiyah fields in Saudi Arabia. The scope of work involved the procurement and construction of around 700km of pipelines. In October 2023, Saipem, with NPCC, netted a US1.4bn contract with ADNOC, for the Hail and Ghasha development project.