State-owned General Petroleum Company averaged 77,000 boe/d in FY 2025/26 and recorded its highest-ever annual number of petroleum discoveries, as Egypt turns to AI, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to squeeze more production from mature assets.
Egypt’s General Petroleum Company recorded 12 petroleum discoveries in fiscal 2025/26, its highest annual total, while average production reached about 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, according to figures presented at the company’s general assembly.
The results sharpen Egypt’s push to extract more from ageing fields rather than relying solely on large new discoveries, using data analytics and newer drilling and completion technologies to reassess reservoirs and existing wells.
Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi described GPC as a key technology arm of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, citing its use of artificial intelligence and advanced field-data analysis to identify production and exploration opportunities.
New Techniques Target Mature Assets
GPC is preparing to drill its first horizontal well in the Western Desert and test the NEST-8 well following a hydraulic-fracturing operation, as the ministry expands the use of horizontal drilling and fracking to access geological targets that conventional development may have left behind.
The strategy could be particularly relevant to Egypt’s mature upstream portfolio, where improved recovery rates and the reinterpretation of historical well data can add production without depending entirely on frontier exploration.
The ministry also reiterated the importance of settling arrears owed to petroleum partners, linking payment discipline to companies’ willingness to finance additional drilling, deploy advanced rigs and introduce newer technologies.
EGP8bn Investment, Lower Energy Costs
GPC said it invested about EGP8bn during the year, equivalent to 105% of its revised budget, while production-service companies invested a further $120mn.
Operational efficiencies cut energy consumption by 22%, from about 103,000 to 80,000 tonnes of oil equivalent, generating estimated savings of $11mn.
The company also processed and shipped 7mn barrels of oil equivalent for other petroleum companies through its infrastructure, generating about $30mn in revenue.
For Egypt’s upstream strategy, the more significant test now is whether the record discovery count and adoption of new drilling technologies translate into sustained incremental production and economically recoverable reserves. That, rather than the number of discoveries alone, will determine the value of GPC’s technology-led mature-field strategy.
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