Egypt signs two $506 million oil-exploration deals with Canada’s TransGlobe, Pharos Energy

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on Thursday that it signed two oil exploration deals in the Western and Eastern Deserts worth at least $506 million in total with Canada’s TransGlobe Energy Corporation and Pharos Energy.

In an official statement, the ministry said the first agreement with the Canadian oil corporation includes integrating several concessions in the Eastern Desert and pumping new investments for crude oil exploration and production.

Meanwhile, the second deal with Pharos Energy encompasses investments for crude oil exploration and production in the Western Desert’s Fayoum.

The deals also include a $67 million grant for drilling 12 wells in both regions.

Both deals aim to increase the production of crude oil under a plan to pump more investments in concession areas and use advanced technologies in oil exploration and production to increase reserves and oil production in the area, Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla said.

Thursday’s announcement comes a few weeks after Egypt awarded eight oil exploration blocks to oil giants Eni, British Petroleum, Apex International, Energy Egypt, United Energy, Enap Sipetrol, and Ina.

The giant oil corporations will invest a minimum of $250 million and drill 33 wells in blocks within the Mediterranean, Western Desert, and the Gulf of Suez.

The awarding of the concessions followed Egypt’s first global oil and gas exploration auction that was held by the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company for 24 blocks through a new digital portal aiming to lure gas and oil exploration companies.

In December, the Cabinet said the country’s production of crude oil and natural gas rose by 8.4 percent Y-o-Y in 2021, up from 2020’s 82.4 million tonnes.

Egypt has made a series of oil and gas discoveries in recent years, most notably the giant Zohr gas field off the Mediterranean. The gas field, which holds an estimated reservoir of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, has drawn the interest of investors to the country’s energy sector.

It has also helped Egypt reach self-sufficiency in natural gas and pursue being a regional hub for gas exports.