Egypt is seeking to expand technology cooperation with global technology company SLB to boost domestic oil and natural gas production. This came during a meeting between Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi and SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch, according to a ministry statement.
Badawi and Le Peuch explored ways to strengthen partnership and expanding cooperation in advanced technology, digital transformation, exploration and production.
The talks also focused on increasing domestic production and attracting further investment to Egypt’s oil and natural gas sector, as well as opportunities to increase local content in SLB’s services and manufacturing activities.
Badawi highlighted SLB’s role in technology transfer and developing technical capabilities in Egypt’s petroleum sector.
He called for expanding existing cooperation and deploying advanced technologies to reduce exploration risks, improve recovery rates from existing fields and increase operational efficiency.
The two sides reviewed progress on the advanced ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismic survey in the eastern Mediterranean, conducted by the petroleum sector in cooperation with the SLB-Viridien consortium.
They discussed the timeline for data acquisition and processing, the release of preliminary results, and preparations to make the data available through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG).
The meeting also followed up on discussions held during Egypt Energy Show (EGYPES 2026) on expanding the use of horizontal drilling technologies.
Badawi and Le Peuch also discussed expanding the use of artificial intelligence in reservoir management and production optimization in cooperation with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 2026 World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Riyadh. The WPC opened on October 11 as part of Riyadh Energy Week, which runs through October 15. It brings together industry executives and experts from around the world to showcase energy technologies and innovations and discuss key issues shaping the sector’s future.
SLB has been expanding beyond traditional oilfield services to pursue growth opportunities in digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s second-quarter 2026 results, released on July 24, showed that revenue rose 5% year on year to $8.97 billion.
On October 8, SLB announced a 15-year agreement with TotalEnergies to deploy its DrillPlan well planning and engineering solutions, supporting the French energy company’s transition to a digital planning environment that integrates subsurface insights with well planning and engineering.
