The gov’t wants to add nearly 330 mmcf / d to domestic gas production by year-end, mostly from Zohr and West Mina

The government plans to add nearly 330 mmcf / d to domestic gas production before year-end, according to an Oil Ministry statement released yesterday after the Egas general assembly. Most of the gas will come from Zohr and West Mina in the Mediterranean, contributing a combined 250 mmcf / d before year-end. Another 80 mmcf / d is expected from the Western Desert’s Meleiha fields before end-September, following the completion of the second phase of a gas processing plant.

REMEMBER- This target is one piece of a wider upstream push. The Oil Ministry is lining up 160 new oil and gas wells this fiscal year backed by at least USD 7.2 bn in planned foreign-partner investment. Eni alone is planning 230 wells across its Mediterranean and Western Desert acreage over 2026 and 2027, while BP is chasing 1 tcf of potential gas reserves in the Mediterranean as part of a USD 1.5 bn investment plan. Shell’s Velox-1X well has recently confirmed an active petroleum system and the presence of crude oil in the Western Mediterranean — the basin’s deepest well to date. The ministry is also launching a phased 100k-sq-km seismic survey alongside a major concession offering of 70 blocks.

More from Egas: Egas plans to drill 16 wells in FY 2026/27 across seven offshore and nine onshore prospects, targeting an estimated 6 tcf of resources, Executive Managing Director Sayed Selim said. The company made nine discoveries in FY 2025/26 (eight gas, one oil), adding some 2.8 tcf of gas reserves — three exploratory gas wells are already being drilled and scheduled for completion before year-end. Egas also implemented nine gas field development projects and connected 28 wells to production, with investment totaling USD 1.12 bn. Egas is set to begin an East Mediterranean seismic survey in October, following a West Mediterranean survey that Selim said has already drawn fresh investment interest from TotalEnergies and Chevron.

Why it matters: Clearing the USD 6.1 bn arrears backlog was the precondition that unlocked this investment cycle. Oil Minister Karim Badawi framed the production push as recovery from a period when unpaid dues held back drilling and risked a deeper production decline. But even with capital flowing back in, offshore drilling and infrastructure development take years. A meaningful rebound in domestic output won’t materialize overnight, and near-term production gains from these announced targets will only partially offset the natural decline at mature fields.