Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi oversaw the signing of a new oil exploration and production (E&P) concession agreement in the South Wadi Al-Sahl area of the Eastern Desert. The agreement was officially signed by Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company’s (Ganope) and Russia’s Lukoil Overseas Egypt Limited. Its collaborative work program outlines a 3D seismic survey covering an area of 200 square kilometers, alongside the drilling of six exploratory wells during the initial exploration phases.

Badawi said that this agreement aligns with Egypt’s strategy to maximize the utilization of natural resources and expand the geographical scope of exploration activities. This move is expected to contribute significantly to securing local market needs and attracting foreign investment.

Thanks to its proximity to development regions, production lines, and processing plants, the South Wadi Al-Sahl area is considered promising. These features are expected to reduce drilling costs and development activities.

This agreement spotlights Lukoil’s expansion in the Egyptian petroleum market. The company has previously secured the Wadi Al-Sahl development area, which was offered in the recent mature fields bid round.

Lukoil plans to implement a comprehensive exploration and development program in both South Wadi Al-Sahl and Wadi Al-Sahl areas. This is in addition to continuing its operations in the neighboring West Esh El-Mallaha (WEEM) concession area and its partnership with Eni in the integrated Meleiha development area in the Western Desert, where it recently made several successful discoveries.

Lukoil is a Russian multinational energy corporation based in Moscow. It specializes in the extraction, production, transportation, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum products, and electricity.