The Ministry of Petroleum has announced a new offshore oil discovery in the Gulf of Suez, a find expected to boost national crude output by 3,000 barrels per day. The well was drilled by the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company, a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and UAE-registered Dragon Oil.
The ministry said Thursday that production from the newly drilled well will begin within days, marking what it described as a swift integration of the site into Egypt’s energy portfolio. The well was identified using ocean bottom node seismic imaging, a technology that pinpointed sub-sea structures previously inaccessible to conventional surveys.
Egypt deployed its state-owned Al-Fanar offshore platform to carry out the drilling, a move that sped up early production and avoided the high cost of renting an external rig. The ministry said the decision reflects a broader push for infrastructure efficiency and asset optimization within the petroleum sector.
Earlier this month, a source familiar with Egypt’s oil exploration strategy told Al Manassa that three new concessions—spanning the Eastern and Western deserts—are projected to yield more than 5 million barrels of recoverable crude, with an estimated production rate of 4,000 barrels per day.
Egypt’s domestic oil production has hovered between 500,000 and 530,000 barrels per day since the start of the year, covering about 75% of the feedstock needed for the country’s refineries. The remaining demand is met through imports of roughly 125,000 barrels per day, the informed source had revealed to Al Manassa.
The country’s petroleum import bill surged to a record $19.5 billion in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, up from $13.4 billion the previous year. The oil trade deficit has also swelled by $6.3 billion compared to FY23/24, reaching $13.9 billion. The spike, according to recent balance of payments' data, was driven largely by higher imports of liquefied natural gas and refined petroleum products.
