14 New oil and gas exploration areas opened to investment in Egypt
Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi unveils new lic...
Thursday, 20 August 2026
Shell, which owns a 60 percent stake in the asset, will operate the field alongside its partner, the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) subsidiary KEL, working in close collaboration with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Shell said in a news release.
Discovered in October 2023, the Mina West gas field will be developed as a subsea tie-back to the existing infrastructure of West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM), supporting the delivery of reliable energy to Egypt’s domestic gas market, according to the release.
Shell’s initial drilling activities took place at a water depth of around 820 feet (250 meters) below sea level in the offshore Nile Delta. Primary data confirmed the presence of a gas-bearing reservoir.
Dalia Elgabry, vice president and country chair of Shell Egypt, said, “Investing in new production at Mina West expands our industry-leading integrated gas business and supports [the] delivery of secure, reliable energy to Egypt’s domestic market in-line with our strategy to create more value with less emissions”.
The investment in Mina West is expected to generate an internal rate of return (IRR) above the hurdle rate for Shell’s Integrated Gas business, the company said. The investment also contributes towards growing Shell’s combined Integrated Gas and Upstream total production by one percent per year to 2030.
The development reinforces “Egypt’s vision to become a regional energy hub and reflects a commitment to energy cooperation and strategic investment across the region,” Shell said.
The milestone “showcases the partners' shared commitment to accelerating value delivery and enhancing Egypt’s domestic gas supply,” KUFPEC said in a separate statement.
Progress has been made possible through an innovative contracting strategy with an undisclosed engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) contractor, according to the statement.
KUFPEC CEO Eisa Al-Maraghi said, “KUFPEC has long been a key player in advancing upstream oil and gas projects worldwide. Our partnership with Shell in Egypt reflects our broader commitment to energy cooperation and strategic investments throughout the region”.
KUFPEC describes itself as an international upstream company engaged in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas outside the State of Kuwait and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
Aside from its goal of growing top-line production across its combined Upstream and Integrated Gas business and sustaining 1.4 million barrels per day of liquids production to 2030 with increasingly lower carbon intensity, Shell said in an earlier statement it aims to grow sales in liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 4 to 5% per year through to 2030.
The oil giant said it also plans to “unlock more value” from its portfolio of Chemicals assets by exploring strategic and partnership opportunities in the USA, and both high-grading and selective closures in Europe, “enabling the business to prosper whilst improving returns and reducing capital employed by 2030”.
