Chevron has committed to invest at least $88 million under an agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) for oil and natural-gas exploration in the offshore Lotus area in Egypt’s Mediterranean waters, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on October 5.
The agreement includes plans to drill two exploratory wells and reprocess three-dimensional (3D) seismic data.
The Lotus site is in 2,000–2,800 metres of water, about 200 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast. Daily News Egypt reported that no deep exploratory wells had previously been drilled in the area.
The ministry said Badawi hoped drilling would identify new resources and support domestic natural-gas and crude-oil production, as Egypt seeks to expand exploration and attract petroleum investment.
On April 16, Egypt’s Cabinet approved a draft concession deal for Lotus involving the government, EGAS and Chevron Egypt Holdings.
Badawi said in August that Egypt planned to increase exploration and production activity by around 20 per cent during 2026 as part of a five-year strategy for the sector.
Data cited by MEES put Egypt’s July gas consumption at 7.36 billion cubic feet per day, up 9.5 per cent from June and 16 per cent year on year. Gas burned for power generation reached 4.68 billion cubic feet per day.
Chevron’s Egyptian offshore exploration portfolio covers six areas: Nargis, North El Dabaa, Lotus, North West Atoll, North Simian and North Cleopatra.
EGAS awarded the North Samian and Northwest Atoll offshore blocks to a Chevron Egypt–Shell BG Group consortium in June 2025. The awards provided for two exploratory wells in each block, which are separate from the Lotus Area.