Egypt’s Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is promoting the South East El Moghra exploration block in the Western Desert as part of its 2026 international bid round, with bids due by November 11, 2026, at noon Cairo time, according to the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG).

The EUG said that South East El Moghra offers companies an opportunity to explore “new upstream potential” in Egypt’s Western Desert. The block is among six areas offered by EGPC under the 2026 bidding round.

The block is located in the south-central part of north Western Desert, and has 7 wells, with 22 million barrels of stock tank oil initially in place (STOIIP).

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources launched the 2026 international bid round on August 11, offering 14 oil and gas exploration blocks to international and Egyptian companies. The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) offers eight blocks in the Mediterranean Sea, Nile Delta, and North Sinai, which opened on August 11 and close at 12 p.m. Cairo time on December 14, 2026, while the EGPC is offering six blocks in the Gulf of Suez, Sinai, and Western Desert, with bids closing at 12 p.m. Cairo time on November 11, 2026.

In December 2025, EGPC signed a $6.5 million initial exploration agreement with UK-based Terra Petroleum for the Northwest El Moghra concession. The agreement covered three exploration wells as well as 2D and 3D seismic surveys and marked Terra Petroleum’s first upstream operations in Egypt.