Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi, accompanied by a delegation of petroleum sector leaders, visited the Petroshahd site in the Western Desert to follow up on the production operations and current drilling activities in the company’s concession areas.

Petroshahd is a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Chile’s ENAP Sipetrol.

Company officials reviewed the targeted drilling program aimed at boosting production from 9,500 barrels per day (bbl/d) to 11,000 bbl/d by the end of 2025, in line with the ongoing development plan.

Badawi discussed the planned timeline for starting operations in the West Amer area in the Eastern Desert. He emphasized the importance of accelerating the start date to September 2025 instead of January 2026 to reduce the import bill by boosting local crude oil production particularly in the current period.

In light of the geopolitical crisis evoked by Israel’s attack on Iran, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) has activated an emergency plan to secure the country’s oil and natural gas needs.

The plan includes halting natural gas supplies to select industries, maximizing diesel consumption at power plants, and coordinating the operation of certain stations to run on diesel.

MoPMR affirmed that three regasification units have arrived in Egypt. One of them is currently pumping gas into the national natural gas grid, while the other two are being equipped and connected to the ports to begin operation.