Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met the President of Shell Global for Integrated Gas Cedric Cremers to review efforts to increase natural gas production from the company’s operating areas in Egypt in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

They also addressed the regional integration plans in developing Cypriot gas discoveries (Aphrodite field) using the infrastructure of the Egyptian gas sector in light of the agreement recently signed at EGYPES 2025. 

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed Shell’s global operations and efforts to develop gas resources from the deep West Nile Delta (WND) regions, which include the tenth and eleventh phases to increase natural gas production. 

Badawi praised Shell’s global efforts and strategic partnership with the Egyptian petroleum sector, which was evident in its commitment to its work in Egypt despite the challenges, in addition to its expansion plans.

He highlighted the importance of accelerating the placement of new wells in the company’s work plan during the coming period on the natural gas production map.

The Minister also referred to the importance of the steps taken to develop gas resources from the Cypriot Aphrodite field in cooperation with Chevron and Shell. He also praised the signing of an agreement in Cairo recently during the EGYPES 2025 conference, stressing Egypt’s ongoing cooperation with Cyprus and international companies in this regard. 

Additionally, Badawi underlined the opportunities available to increase Shell’s investments in new areas in light of the new investment opportunities offered by the Ministry through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), which is specific to undeveloped fields and new exploration areas. 

He pointed to the necessity of integrated work in the energy sector in cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, aiming to enhance the participation of renewable energy in power generation. In addition, work will be done to enhance the electrical connection with Saudi Arabia, which will contribute significantly to reducing the import bill for energy supplies and increase operations efficiency in the energy sector in general, and the oil and gas sector in particular. 

For his part,  Cremers praised the positive results achieved by Shell in the Egyptian natural gas sector, pointing out that the West Delta Deep Phase 10 and 11 projects are among Shell’s main objectives in Egypt, as the company seeks to put them on the production map. 

He added that Shell aims to expand its business in the region, noting that it aims to accelerate the development project of the Aphrodite natural gas field in Cyprus and its production within the framework of cooperation between Egypt, Cyprus and the field partners. 

Dalia El-Gabry, the Vice President and Country Chair of Shell Egypt, said that the year 2025 will witness a remarkable increase in natural gas production, in light of the company’s implementation of the tenth and eleventh phases projects to increase gas production in the West Delta Deep region. She also pointed out that work is also underway to develop the discovery (West Mina) in the North East Amriya region in the Mediterranean Sea. 

During the meeting, the existing partnership between the two sides in the Idko LNG plant on the Mediterranean Sea was reviewed, in addition to discussing cooperation in the fields of energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and carbon reduction.