Baker Hughes is accelerating its strategic involvement in underground natural gas storage projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR), according to Amro Ismail Elsharkawi, the company’s Regional Manager for Egypt. The initiative aims to leverage Egypt’s geological potential to enhance the state’s capacity as a regional natural gas hub while driving production through advanced digital platforms.
Speaking in a recent interview with Petrocast, the MoPMR’s podcast, Elsharkawi reported that the company is working directly with the ministry and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) on subsurface storage feasibility. These projects are considered vital to the national strategy of ensuring energy security and optimizing the value of domestic natural gas resources. He also stated that natural gas storage is a top priority for the company, noting that Egypt possesses significant potential for underground storage as a critical step in transforming the country into a focal point for the regional natural gas trade.
The company has successfully piloted its “Lucipa” digital platform in Egypt, a comprehensive system designed to optimize production and manage field maintenance. Elsharkawi reported that the integration of these AI-driven technologies has already yielded measurable improvements in operational efficiency for public-sector companies by providing real-time production control and monitoring of well performance to identify potential issues before they escalate.
Furthermore, the platform offers automated workover planning to develop precise maintenance schedules for wells requiring specific treatments, ultimately driving cost rationalization by reducing non-productive time and operational expenditures through predictive analytics.
As part of its expansion plan, Baker Hughes is yielding to the Ministry’s directives to modernize upstream operations, particularly through the use of advanced pumping and stimulation technology in hydraulic fracturing to unlock unconventional resources, alongside directional and narrow drilling to increase well productivity through precise reservoir access.
With 25 years of experience in the sector, Elsharkawi expressed optimism regarding Egypt’s path toward energy self-sufficiency. He emphasized that the national strategy effectively balances the development of traditional oil and natural gas resources with a significant increase in the percentage of renewable energy in the national mix. He concluded that the company is moving beyond the traditional service-provider model to become an integrated energy technology company, aiming to support the MoPMR in adopting technologies that will yield sustainable production growth for years to come.
Baker Hughes is a global energy technology company that provides a wide range of solutions to the energy and industrial sectors across more than 120 countries. In Egypt, the company serves as a strategic Tier-1 partner to the MoPMR, playing a fundamental role in the Sector’s Modernization Program through the provision of advanced drilling technology and compression systems for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.
