Eni has big investment plans : Italian energy giant Eni and its partners will invest USD 7.7 bn in their Egypt operations over the next four years, Ittihadiya said yesterday. This came during a meeting between Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday, in which they discussed the company’s energy exploration and production plans.

We knew Eni was planning to step-up its spend on exporation, but this is a massive announcement (though obviously the figure includes a lot of spending on the production side of the E&P equation, not just exploration). The company was among the five multinationals Oil Minister Tarek El Molla recently said will spend USD 1.8 bn in fresh gas exploration. Eni, along with Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell, will drill 35 exploration wells over the next two years, the minister said.

We don’t have much in the way of specifics just yet: The company is looking to drill new exploration wells at several concessions in the Eastern Mediterranean, which according to an unconfirmed report in the local press in April, includes North East Hap’y.

Eni is one of the biggest players in the country’s sector: Eni, along with its partners, is responsible for producing around 60% of Egypt’ natural gas and operates the country’s largest field, Zohr, alongside the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. It also owns 50% of the Damietta LNG plant, one of the country’s two liquefaction facilities that are key to the government’s long-term export ambitions. Earlier this year it said it had made a “significant” gas discovery in the Eastern Mediterranean in cooperation with Chevron.

This is the latest investment pledge by a key international oil and gas firm: BP CEO Bernard Looney was in town for talks with El Sisi last week, during which he said the company will invest USD 3.5 bn in its Egypt operations over the next three years.

The government wants to ramp up exploration efforts: We heard last week that the Oil Ministry is planning to launch an international tender for 8-10 oil and gas concessions before the end of the year. And we’re still waiting on the results of a tender for 12 exploration blocks launched back in December.

Egypt is in need of fresh discoveries: The country’s gas output fell to a three-year low in 2Q 2023 on the back of production declines in the Nile Delta and disruptions at Zohr, which has been reported to be facing water infiltration issues. Decreasing gas supplies have contributed to the ongoing electricity shortages, which have caused rolling blackouts across the country since late July.

Gas doesn’t just keep the lights on: It’s a key source of hard currency for Egypt, and one whose importance has only grown in light of the ongoing FX crisis.

Other companies are prepping their drills: BP, ExxonMobil and Shell are among the other companies preparing new exploration drilling campaigns.

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