North Petroleum International Company (NPIC), a subsidiary of China’s state-owned Zhenhua Oil Company, plans to boost production through the optimization of existing assets and the acquisition of new concessions. During an episode of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ podcast, PetroCast, NPIC Country Manager and Director Sun Bao confirmed that the company is intensifying its footprint in Egypt to unlock further potential within the nation’s mature and frontier basins.
The company has allocated a budget exceeding $100 million to pursue new opportunities, including brownfield assets and exploration blocks offered through Egypt’s recent upstream bid rounds. NPIC is currently preparing an aggressive drilling program for 2026, targeting additional wells and multiple reservoir layers to enhance recovery rates.
Technical and commercial assessments for several potential acquisitions are already underway as the company seeks to leverage advanced Chinese technologies, such as horizontal drilling, to reduce development costs for both conventional and unconventional resources.
Sun Bao highlighted that the implementation of cost-reduction technologies is expected to accelerate the development of marginal oil fields, making them more commercially viable.
He expressed significant confidence in the current investment climate, noting that the sector has become increasingly flexible and attractive compared to previous years. Following his participation in the Egypt Oil and Gas Convention, Bao stated that the “door is very open” to foreign investors, regardless of their country of origin.
According to Bao, improved concession terms and better financing conditions have provided companies with the necessary confidence to inject fresh capital into Egypt’s oil and natural gas sector. The government’s focus on attracting global technology and streamlining regulatory frameworks is a critical driver for the sector’s next phase of growth.
NPIC operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhenhua Oil, the oil and natural gas exploration arm of the Chinese state-owned conglomerate NORINCO. Established in 2003, Zhenhua Oil manages a diverse global portfolio of 11 upstream projects across six countries, with NPIC serving as its primary vehicle in Egypt since 2014.
