Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed on Wednesday the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Egypt’s petroleum sector and France’s TotalEnergies to cooperate on natural gas exploration activities across a large area in the western Mediterranean.
The signing ceremony was attended by Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; François Cortex, TotalEnergies’ Exploration Director for the Middle East and North Africa; and Jérémy Soul, the company’s Exploration Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The MoU was signed by Sayed Selim, Executive Managing Director of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), and Pascal Breant, General Manager of TotalEnergies in Egypt and Cyprus.
Madbouly reaffirmed the government’s commitment to attracting further investments in exploration and research activities through incentives and facilities offered to international partners. He said these efforts are aimed at increasing investments in new discoveries and accelerating the development of existing fields, thereby boosting domestic production and reducing Egypt’s energy import bill.
The prime minister added that his recent meetings with executives of international oil companies during the Egypt Energy Show conveyed clear assurances regarding the state’s commitment to fostering an attractive investment climate for the energy sector, encouraging partners to expand their activities in Egypt’s oil and gas industry.
For his part, Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi said the MoU establishes a framework for technical cooperation between both sides, including preliminary natural gas exploration studies and subsea technical assessments. He noted that the agreement is expected to pave the way for practical exploration activities in the region while helping reduce investment risks.
Badawi said the agreement with TotalEnergies is the culmination of intensive high-level discussions that began during the visit of the company’s Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne to Cairo for the opening of this year’s EGYPES conference. Discussions focused on the company’s broader return to gas exploration activities in Egypt, particularly in the western Mediterranean, as well as opportunities created by the sector’s investment incentives and ongoing reforms.
He welcomed TotalEnergies’ return to gas exploration in Egypt, describing the partnership with the global energy company as a key outcome of the ministry’s efforts to create a more attractive investment environment through incentives, diversified regulatory frameworks and the settlement of outstanding dues owed to partners.
According to Badawi, these measures have helped restore confidence among international energy companies and encouraged them to expand exploration, field development and drilling activities in support of increasing domestic production and strengthening local energy security.
The minister added that the petroleum sector is continuing to offer attractive investment opportunities for strategic partners to intensify exploration activities and support the growth of Egypt’s natural gas resources as part of the ministry’s strategy to gradually increase domestic production.
He also stressed that the Mediterranean remains a priority area for expanding gas exploration activities, given its significant untapped potential, in addition to Egypt’s advanced infrastructure and accumulated expertise, which position the country to deepen cooperation with major international energy companies in the sector.
