Egypt Advances Upstream Growth with Four New Exploration Agreements
Egypt's latest exploration agreements reinforce...
Monday, 03 August 2026
Shell Egypt, along with its partners, has reached an agreement to commence the 11th development phase at the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) concession in the Mediterranean Sea.
Partners in the project include the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Petronas.
This phase includes the drilling of three development wells using the Scaraboe 9 offshore drilling rig.
Currently, the rig is deployed for the phase ten development project, which was sanctioned in 2023 and saw drilling commence in March 2024.
Shell vice-president & country chair for Egypt Dalia Elgabry said: “Shell is proud to continue its long-standing collaboration with the Egyptian Government and our partners to unlock the full potential of the West Delta Deep Marine concession.
“Phase 11 represents a significant investment to secure additional gas supply into Egypt’s energy system, and we are committed to delivering this project efficiently and safely.”
The WDDM concession, located around 90km offshore Egypt in the north-west Nile Delta, is part of the Burullus gas field.
It encompasses 17 gas fields at water depths ranging from 300m to 1,200m, and extending approximately 90–120km from the shore.
Longitude Engineering, a division of ABL Group, secured a contract earlier this year to provide detailed design and engineering services for the subsea expansion of phase ten at the WDDM concession.
In November 2023, Shell discovered a natural gas reservoir in the North East El-Amriya block, part of the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea territory.
The discovery occurred during the drilling of the first well in Shell Egypt’s three-well exploration campaign named Mina West, within the North East El-Amriya block, also referred to as Block 3.
