Egypt is seeking to accelerate the project to connect Cypriot natural gas to its infrastructure and expand cooperation with French energy company TotalEnergies to advance exploration, production, and gas investment opportunities in the Mediterranean region, said Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

Badawi made the remarks during a meeting with Julien Pouget, President for Exploration and Production in North Africa and the Middle East at TotalEnergies, on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (MOC 2026) in Alexandria.

TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni operate Cyprus’ Cronos field as a 50/50 joint venture. The gas field is a deepwater offshore discovery, estimated at 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, and is slated to deliver first production by 2028. The gas will be transported and processed in existing Zohr facilities in Egypt, then transferred and liquefied in the Damietta LNG plant for export as LNG to international markets, primarily Europe.

The meeting addressed developments in natural gas projects, particularly the planned connection of Cyprus’ Cronos gas field to Egypt, as well as opportunities to increase investment in gas exploration and production in Egypt.

Badawi noted that high-level political support from the leadership of Egypt and Cyprus had helped advance the Cronos project and strengthen coordination among the parties involved, supporting faster implementation and efforts to overcome challenges.

It is worth noting that during the conference, the petroleum ministry signed with Chevron a financial framework agreement for the project to connect Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to Egypt’s gas infrastructure, marking another step toward developing the cross-border gas link.

Badawi also expressed during the meeting Egypt’s interest in expanding TotalEnergies’ investments in the country’s natural gas industry.

For his part, Pouget reaffirmed TotalEnergies’ commitment to cooperation with the petroleum ministry, noting that the company continues to assess promising exploration opportunities in Egypt in collaboration with technical teams.

He said that access to additional technical data and information would improve the assessment of exploration opportunities.