Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Egypt has announced encouraging preliminary results from a new exploratory natural gas well drilled in the Mediterranean Sea as part of ongoing efforts to boost domestic energy production and expand offshore exploration activities.
According to officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, drilling at the exploratory well known as Sirius-1X in the North East El-Ameriya concession area has reached its targeted depth of 2,115 meters, revealing promising initial indicators for potential gas reserves in the Sirius geological formation.
The well is operated by Shell, which is expanding its exploration and production operations in Egyptian waters as part of its 2026 drilling program in the Mediterranean. The company began its exploration campaign with two wells, Mina West-2 and Sirius, located in the North East El-Ameriya block offshore Egypt.
Officials said the results strengthen the possibility of developing new gas resources in the area, with an early development decision potentially expected by 2027 if further evaluations confirm commercial quantities.
The drilling campaign was recently inspected by Karim Badawi, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, who visited the site as part of the government’s monitoring of projects aimed at increasing local natural gas output and strengthening the country’s energy security.
The exploration effort is being carried out by Shell in partnership with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC), in cooperation with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), which oversees the development of the country’s natural gas sector.
Officials noted that the companies successfully optimized drilling operations by using geological and technical data obtained during the drilling of the Mina West-2 well to support the evaluation of the Sirius-1X well. This approach allowed the partners to avoid drilling an additional dedicated data well, resulting in significant cost savings while maintaining the quality of geological analysis.
If further studies confirm the commercial viability of the discovery, the new find is expected to be tied into production infrastructure by 2029 as part of the broader development of the Mina West gas field, which is currently under development in the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, drilling operations at the Mina West-2 well are continuing, with plans to bring the well into production before the end of the current year. The project forms part of Egypt’s wider strategy to accelerate offshore exploration and increase gas supplies for domestic consumption and potential exports, particularly as demand for energy continues to rise across the region.
