UPDATE 1-Egypt eyes gas production increase

(Recasts with additional information on the Zohr field and background)

CAIRO, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Egypt plans to increase natural gas production from several key concession areas, including its giant Zohr field, in 2025, Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi said on Monday.

The government aims to ramp up output at Zohr by drilling new wells starting in the first quarter of 2025, according to a ministry statement. Production from the field remained stable at around 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) in the fiscal year 2023-24, which ended in June.

Zohr, once a game-changer that turned Egypt from a net gas importer to an exporter, peaked at 3.2 bcf/d in 2019 but has since seen output decline to 1.9 bcf/d in early 2024.

The drop was mainly due to foreign oil companies’ hesitance to invest as Egypt accumulated billions in arrears. However, in August, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that his government had a clear plan to restore and increase production levels in cooperation with foreign partners.

Egypt is also seeking to boost pipeline imports from neighboring Israel and Cyprus while exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) through its two export facilities.

Additionally, Egypt signed a partnership agreement on Monday with Greece’s Copelouzos Group to enhance the trade, transport, supply, and regasification of natural gas across Eastern Europe and Greece. (Reporting by Mohamed Ezz; Writing by Clauda Tanios and Mohamed Ezz; Editing by Michael Georgy and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Click For Restrictions – https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html