Egypt awards oil and gas exploration blocks to Eni, BP, QatarEnergy and Zarubezhneft

Italy's Eni was the big winner in an Egyptian auction of oil and gas exploration rights, securing concessions for two of the four blocks, according to results from the Oil Ministry.

The company also won a third block with BP and QatarEnergy in the Mediterranean Sea, while Russia's Zarubezhneft was awarded a block in the Nile Delta.

This victory for Zarubezhneft is a rare overseas expansion for a Russian company since Moscow's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zarubezhneft is already present in seven countries, including Egypt, where it is party to production-sharing agreements on offshore blocks. Zarubezhneft declined to comment further.

Faced with a growing demand for gas from its 105 million inhabitants, Egypt is trying to position itself as a regional energy hub, selling its own gas and re-exporting Israeli gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Middle East and Africa. and Europe.

However, the country experienced some power cuts this summer and its natural gas production fell to its lowest level in three years. In July, the government announced the launch of a $1.8 billion program to drill natural gas exploration wells in the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta.