Since its inception in 2019, the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) has been instrumental in fostering regional cooperation and advancing sustainable natural gas strategies across the East Mediterranean. The Forum conducted studies to explore the East Mediterranean energy landscape, including natural gas supply and demand, decarbonization, and natural gas monetization. This led to forming action plans for a more efficient, competitive, and future-ready East Med gas sector.
Towards this end EMGF hosted the “Renergizing the East Med” two-day workshop from May 7–8, 2025, in Ain Sokhna, Egypt bringing together government officials, industry leaders, regulators, and technical experts to address challenges in the region’s natural gas sector.
The EMGF serves as a pivotal platform for fostering dialogue and cooperation among natural gas producers, consumers, and transit countries in the region to enhance energy supply security within the Eastern Mediterranean. This organization is dedicated to establishing a sustainable and efficient regional gas market that aligns with the interests of its member countries: Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Israel, France,Jordan, and Palestine
The first day featured expert discussions and technical workshops, covering topics such as natural gas supply and exploration, infrastructure optimization, and emissions reduction. On the second day, EMGF unveiled its new strategy and implementation roadmap, with breakout sessions and executives’ roundtable translating objectives into applicable policies.
Day One: Remarks and Strategic Vision
“We have developed over the past few months a new, more engaging approach that we will be discussing throughout the workshop. We need more engagement between governments, the private sectors, and the regulators,” said H.E. Osama Mobarez Secretary General of EMGF.
Osama Osman, Vice Chairman for Operations and Network, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) noted during one of the first day’s session that the agenda of the workshop addresses some of the most pressing challenges and promising opportunities in the oil and gas sector, ensuring security and supply, optimizing infrastructure, and advancing emission reduction. “These are not just technical goals; they are strategic imperatives.” He said.
EMGF provided three insightful technical workshops where industry leaders discussed emerging trends and actionable strategies in optimizing natural gas across the region
“To unlock the full potential of natural gas resources in the region, the main (way) is collaboration, and this is what we have today—not just between governments, but also among various stakeholders,” said Mobarez.
The first workshop, “Gas Supply and Exploration,” focused on investment opportunities and market dynamics within the East Mediterranean region.
Mohamed Radwan, GANOPE Vice Chairman for Exploration and Agreements and Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) Manager at MOPMR, delivered a presentation titled ‘Egypt’s Upstream Investment Opportunities.’
He discussed the status of oil and gas in Egypt, emphasizing EUG’s crucial role in providing comprehensive market data to support investment decisions and accelerate exploration activities.
Moreover, Mahmoud Nabil Abdalla, Process Engineer at PETROBEL, presented a talk titled ‘Using Liquid Hold-Up Calculation Tool at Zohr Field for Optimizing Gas Production From Deepwater Wells.’
Abdalla reviewed the application of the tool through a case study of the Zohr gas field pipeline, showcasing how it can predict liquid hold-up under varying flow conditions and serve as a quick-access solution for informed engineering decisions.
Accelerating Field Development Plan (FDP) through agile reservoir modelling and physics-based AI dynamic simulation was the topic of a presentation given by Raghad Elsayed, Reservoir Engineer and Rock Physicist at SLB. ElSayed showcased AI technology aimed at accelerating sub-surface model that was applied in an offshore Mediterranean condensate gas reservoir in Egypt.
The second workshop, “Infrastructure Optimization Strategies,” examined ways to enhance gas processing, midstream efficiency, and LNG infrastructure development.
In a presentation entitled “Advancing Gas Processing Infrastructure Optimization”, Osama Osman, Vice Executive Managing Director for Operations and National Grid, (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) shed light on the regional advantages of leveraging Egypt’s gas Infrastructure, especially LNG while highlighting ongoing projects working on enhancing efficiency in the sector.
Meanwhile, Khaled Mansour, Midstream Performance Services Sales Engineer at SLB, addressed the critical impacts of acid gas on Petroleum operations as he delivered a presentation entitled “Enhancing Gas Production Efficiency Using Acid Gas Removal”. He additionally talked about the acid gas removal process powered by AI to tackle this issue.
Igor Malgieri, Head of International Affairs at Edison, talked about the EDISON gas assets and highlighted developments in projects connecting the gas fields in the East Mediterranean.
The final workshop, “Emissions Reduction and Decarbonization,” delved into methane mitigation, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), and strategies for achieving net-zero emissions.
Yassin Yehia Rady, Energy Transition-Business Development Senior Engineer at Energean, reviewed a global perspective of the evolution of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) market, particularly in Greece and Egypt as he delivered a presentation entitled “Unlocking Geological Carbon Storage East Med”.
In a presentation about high-impact strategies for decarbonizing oil and gas, Yasmine Esam Saad, Production and Energy Efficiency Engineer at Eni reviewed a decarbonization plan through energy efficiency while shedding light on two projects. The first aims to reduce gas consumption through changes in the design of heaters and compressors, while the second is the photovoltaic power plant in Abu Rudeis in South Sinai.
Ibrahim Kshanh, Energy and Sustainability Manager, Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company, fave the last presentation in the workshop’s first day :“Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Imperative: From Detection to Decisive Action”.
He underscored the impact of Methane emissions on the oil and gas industry and reviewed examples for Methane mitigation technologies such as Satellite data, airborne Methane detection and optical gas imaging.
Day Two: From Strategy to Implementation
In his opening remarks for day 2 of the workshop, Moataz Atef, Undersecretary of the Minister’s Technical Office and Official Spokesperson at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Egypt, stated, “A lot of effort has been made over the past 6-8 months to put through the ministry’s six pillars. The Sixth pillar is about regional collaboration. The East Mediterranean Gas Forum – EMGF (EMGF) and what it does in terms of regional cooperation is key for this.”
Following the opening remarks Karim El-Dessouky, President and Regional Manager for Egypt and East Med at Bechtel Corporation and East Mediterranean Gas Forum – EMGF’s GIAC Vice Chairman delivered a presentation focused on the “New Implementation Strategy Overview for the EMGF”, shifting from studies and strategies to implementation, ensuring that projects move forward efficiently
“We have gas potential, and we need to know what the available options are to bring this gas to the market as soon as possible and in an economically viable way by utilizing the existing infrastructure, whether it is Liquefication plants, pipelines…. etc. We need to make this decision easier for the private sectors, member countries, International Oil Companies (IOCs), and regulators,” said El-Dessouky.
The new strategy is built around seven Implementation Groups (IGs), covering critical areas in regional integration, and gas exploration and production.
The new strategy also focuses on decarbonization, where EMGF has developed a six-year decarbonization plan, using Egypt as a proof of concept, focusing on carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and regional cooperations in CO₂ management.
To ensure structured project execution, the new EMGF strategy outlines clear action plans, with assigned responsibilities, timelines, and measurable deliverables.
Breakout sessions & GIAC Meeting
During the event, three breakout sessions were held providing a platform for industry experts and leaders to engage in topics about regional integration, gas exploration and production, as well as decarbonization. Complying with EMGF new strategy, the sessions focused on translating strategic objectives into actionable plans through the seven IGs, ensuring a structured and cooperative approach to advancing natural gas in the East Med.
The first session involved discussions on interconnectivity and export solutions; supply and demand modeling; and harmonized export regulations. Meanwhile the second session delved into exploration and infrastructure projects, and production and processing infrastructure projects. As for the third, industryleaders talked about decarbonization projects, and carbon intensity certification.
Following the breakout session, Gas Industry Advisory Committee (GIAC) assembly meeting was held as the industry leaders shared their visions of the forum’s long-term strategies. They also delved into its implementation plans, building on the outcome of the Implementation Group’ discussions during the three breakout sessions.
The meeting touched on some GIAC’s procedural activities like its financial contributions’ status and its next elections of its executive committee.
Executives’ Roundtable
The event came to a close with an executive’s roundtable discussion that gathered leaders from the EMGF, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and international and national oil companies to delve into the action plans proposed by the Implementation Groups of the interactive session and GIAC meeting.
The discussions touched on a wide scope of topics including natural gas interconnectivity, supply and demand, harmonizing regulations, and decarbonization. The discussions highlighted EMGF’s role as a facilitator in bringing together stakeholders to address challenges and seize opportunities in the gas sector.
“To drive meaningful progress, we need to define what kind of output we need. I believe we should develop regionally-agreed-upon white papers that outline practical implementation strategies whenever applicable,” said Moataz Atef, Undersecretary of the Minister’s Technical Office and Official Spokesperson, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Egypt.
Reiterating on that, Karim El-Dessouky, President and Regional Manager for Egypt and East Med at Bechtel Corporation and EMGF’s GIAC Vice Chairman said, “Every EMGF member needs to see a tangible value or benefit in the forum for their company, country or entity. By value, I mean facilitating the progress of specific projects, regulations or policies in addition to resolving any challenges that might slow down progress in the region. Fortunately, this principle is central in our new EMGF Strategy,”
Supply-demand modeling emerged as a critical topic, with speakers emphasizing the need to develop accurate, forward-looking market assessments.
Nicolas Katcharov, CEO of Energean International talked about the uncertainty in energy markets, particularly in demand forecasting and deepwater gas exploration, asking, “Why don’t we take the official strategies, energy strategies of the countries, make them analyzed and then make a simple model based on existing data?”
Besides, Joshua Weegenaar, GM Commercial at Shell Egypt emphasized that without a clear picture of regional infrastructure, production costs, and market dynamics, effective decision-making would be impossible, adding that supply can take years to adjust, but demand changes in instant, understanding this dynamic is key to making smart energy decisions.
H.E Osama Mobarez said “One of the main objectives of the EMGF is to develop or have its own supply and demand analysis. While one can get reliable data from different sources, for the EMGF in general, or specific member states or companies, you need to put your own scenarios, to examine the impact of the outcome on economic decisions,”
“Yes, we have challenges, but we also have massive opportunities. I believe that bringing the stakeholders together, aligned on most of the objectives, will allow us to unlock the full potential, unlock the value that is now underground, and more importantly, to enlarge and share this value,” Mobarez added.
In the same respect, Iman Hill, Country Manager at VAALCO Energy in Egypt stressed that from the discussions she has participated and the insights shared by others, several key strategic themes have clearly emerged.
“If we analyze all the outputs through a lens of these themes, we can identify commonalities that drive alignment across the work that has been done. Much of our conversation has revolved around a different way of doing things —not by eliminating competition, but by fostering greater collaboration where it makes sense”
“We talked about shared infrastructure, shared drilling plans, harmonization of regulatory and fiscal approvals processes, and unitization framework that also works across maritime borders,” she added.
In regard to harmonizing regulations, Mohamed Abdel Aziz, CEO of Gas Regulatory Authority (GasReg) stressed the need for a common framework that aligns regulatory approaches across member states, allowing International Oil Companies (IOCs) to operate efficiently without facing fragmented approval processes. “Overregulating an activity will bring complications to it.”
On the decarbonization front, Anastasios Vlassopoulos, CEO of Helleniq Upstream indicated that Egypt, in theory, is an ideal location to establish a carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster, leveraging its depleted gas and oil fields for storage. However, this has yet to materialize due to two key factors: the absence of a CO₂ pricing system and the regulatory challenge that prevents European emitters from storing CO₂ in Egypt without incurring EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) costs. Harmonizing legal and regulatory environments would allow Egypt and other regional players to cooperate effectively, unlocking new opportunities for CCS development.”
In response, Mohamed Radwan, GANOPE Vice Chairman for Exploration and Agreements and Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) Manager at MOPMR, stated that, “Egypt has already initiated Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) studies, including a major project with Shell covering 12,000 km² in the Mediterranean. While studies are ongoing, the legal framework is still evolving. Talks between the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Environment, and Parliament have begun, and within a year, we expect a structured framework to attract investors and unlock new storage opportunities. By then, Egypt will be ready to provide data and clear investment pathways, allowing stakeholders to capitalize on emerging CCUS projects.”
“Energy is complicated. We need to distil it down to the simplest matters of national security, of commerciality, of consequences, so that politicians understand the urgency of the situation. This is something that EMGF can facilitate and do, communicating with governments in very simple terms,” said Malcolm Forbes Cable, Vice President of Energy at Wood Mackenzie.
