Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi and Son Joo-suk, President of Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) discussed increasing the South Korean company’s investments in Egypt’s oil and gas sector, boosting production from its existing concessions, and exploring joint projects in petroleum product storage and trading.
The discussions took place during a meeting on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC 2026), according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The talks focused on maximizing output from KNOC’s existing investment portfolio, which covers four concession areas in the Gulf of Suez and Western Desert through Dana Petroleum and PetroNefertiti.
The two sides agreed to hold a technical meeting involving the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Dana Petroleum, and PetroNefertiti to develop practical proposals for increasing production from the companies’ Egyptian operations. The meeting will also address training and capacity-building programs planned for 2027.
Badawi called on KNOC and Dana Petroleum to consider investment opportunities under Egypt’s 2026 international bid round, as well as prospects near existing production areas and infrastructure. Such opportunities could accelerate the development of new discoveries while reducing investment costs, the ministry said.
The minister also stressed the importance of intensifying drilling activities and applying advanced enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies to improve production rates and maximize recovery from existing fields.
Recent production developments provide further context for the partnership. On October 30, PetroNefertiti announced positive test results from the Lorcan-6 exploratory well in the North Zeit Bay concession in the Eastern Desert, recording 1,500 barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude oil and 8 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of associated gas. The well is expected to be connected to the production network following completion of testing and the required technical procedures. KNOC and Dana Petroleum are investors in the concession.
