TotalEnergies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to advance offshore exploration efforts in northwestern Egypt, underscoring the country’s ongoing push to revive upstream gas activity and attract foreign investment.
The agreement, announced Wednesday, establishes a framework for technical cooperation covering preliminary exploration studies and subsurface evaluation work in a large offshore acreage area in the Mediterranean.
While no drilling commitments or financial details were disclosed, the deal positions TotalEnergies to deepen its footprint in Egypt’s offshore gas sector at a time when Cairo is seeking to reverse declining domestic production and restore its status as a regional energy hub.
“This agreement will support the assessment of Egypt’s deep offshore exploration potential,” Nicola Mavilla, Senior Vice President Exploration at TotalEnergies, said in a statement.
Egypt has increasingly leaned on international energy companies to unlock new Mediterranean gas resources following a drop in output from mature fields. The country, once viewed as a rising LNG exporter after the discovery of Eni’s giant Zohr field in 2015, has recently struggled with tighter domestic supply balances and rising summer demand.
The agreement with TotalEnergies comes amid renewed exploration momentum in the Eastern Mediterranean, where majors including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP have expanded exploration programs in recent years. Egypt’s government has also introduced incentives aimed at accelerating exploration and production activity, particularly in offshore areas requiring high-cost deepwater development.
TotalEnergies already maintains a broad presence in Egypt across gas, LNG, and renewable energy activities. The French company has been involved in the Damietta LNG export plant through its stake in SEGAS LNG and has pursued additional regional gas opportunities as Europe continues seeking diversified supply sources following the disruption of Russian pipeline gas flows.
The latest cooperation agreement could eventually open new frontier exploration acreage in Egypt’s northwest offshore region, an area that remains relatively underexplored compared with the prolific Nile Delta basin.
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