Egypt's crude oil production hits record high

Tarek el-Molla of Egypt’s General Petroleum Company stated at the company’s shareholder meeting hosted earlier this month that the company will work to promote the development of new oil wells and infrastructure.

Most of Egypt’s crude oil production comes from the Western Desert, accounting for 56%, followed by the Gulf of Suez, accounting for 23%, the Eastern Desert accounting for 12% of Egypt’s current oil production, and the Sinai Peninsula accounting for 9% of total production. Atef Hassan, head of the Egyptian Petrobel Company, told Al-Monitor that after the development of the oil fields in the Suez Gulf, Egypt’s current daily output of natural gas is about 1.1 billion cubic feet, and daily crude oil production is nearly 700,000 barrels.

Egypt’s crude oil production is not high, but its Mediterranean waters have the largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean—the large Zul gas field that started production two years ago. After the Zur gas field was put into operation in early 2018, Egypt became an important participant in the Mediterranean region. Zul played a key role in helping Egypt avoid imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

After the discovery of the Zur gas field by Eni in Italy in 2015, Egypt has been the center of the "gas boom" in the Eastern Mediterranean in recent years, calling it the largest natural gas discovery in the history of the Mediterranean. Earlier this month, Eni and BP announced the discovery of new natural gas in the waters of the Nile Delta in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the latest transaction related to the eastern Mediterranean, the US super giant Chevron (Chevron) will acquire Noble Energy's offshore natural gas assets in Israel and Cyprus. Chevron has previously reached a final agreement for a $5 billion Acquired Houston-based Nobel Energy in an all-stock transaction.