Egypt has opened 14 oil and natural gas exploration blocks to international and domestic companies as Cairo seeks fresh upstream investment to rebuild declining hydrocarbon production and strengthen domestic energy supply.
The 2026 international bid round comprises eight blocks offered by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) across the Mediterranean, Nile Delta and North Sinai, alongside six offered by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in the Gulf of Suez, Sinai and Western Desert.
The bidding process opened on August 11, with offers for the six EGPC blocks due by noon Cairo time on November 11. The acreage is being marketed digitally through the Egypt Upstream Gateway, which provides prospective investors with technical data and handles inquiries and bid submissions.
Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi said several of the areas are located close to producing fields and existing infrastructure, including pipelines and processing facilities, which could reduce development costs and accelerate the connection of new discoveries to production.
The licensing round forms part of a broader five-year exploration programme under which EGAS plans to drill 36 exploratory wells. The programme could eventually expand to as many as 60 wells following the award of 20 exploration blocks, while EGAS is also offering 17 investment opportunities in prospective areas.
The expansion comes as Egypt seeks to narrow a sizable gap between domestic gas production and consumption. Output currently stands at almost 4.1bn cubic feet a day, compared with demand of about 6.2bn cf/d, rising above 7bn cf/d during the summer, according to government figures.
Egypt is targeting an increase of roughly 20% in oil and gas exploration and production activity during 2026 as it seeks to accelerate development of discoveries and bring additional supplies on stream.
The government is also expanding its geological data programme. EGAS plans a seismic survey targeting natural gas prospects in the Eastern Mediterranean through a consortium involving SLB and Viridien, while a separate survey covering about 110,000 square kilometres of the Western Desert near the Libyan border is being prepared with Ardiseis.
The Western Desert programme, covering roughly 11% of Egypt’s territory, is intended to generate updated geological and geophysical data to support investment in an area where the government is seeking to expand exploration activity.
Separately, EGPC is preparing to sign 13 new oil and gas exploration agreements involving more than $1bn in investment commitments and plans to drill 120 wells.
The planned agreements follow increased exploration activity over the previous two fiscal years. Egypt drilled 149 exploration wells during FY 2024/25 and FY 2025/26, resulting in 112 reported discoveries — 88 oil and 24 natural gas — while signing 19 exploration and production agreements carrying minimum investment commitments of $823.1mn and commitments to drill 134 wells, according to government figures.
The new acreage, drilling commitments and seismic programmes come as Egypt seeks to rebuild domestic production and narrow its gas supply deficit, which has increased the country’s requirement for imported energy to meet electricity and industrial demand.
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