Chevron Launches New Well Drilling at Nargis Gas Field Offshore Egypt’s East Nile Delta Basin
Chevron has commenced drilling a new appraisal well at Egypt’s Nargis natural gas field, marking a key step forward in the development of the offshore discovery made in 2022.
The project is being led by Chevron in partnership with Eni, Mubadala Energy, and Tharwa Petroleum Company.
The Nargis field is located in the East Nile Delta Basin, approximately 50 kilometres offshore.
Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Eng. Karim Badawi, recently visited the drilling vessel Stena Forth following its arrival in Egypt to support operations at the field.
During the visit, he reviewed the start of drilling activities and the progress of ongoing development efforts.
Badawi stated that the new well aligns with the Ministry’s strategy of accelerating the development of undeveloped natural gas discoveries and bringing them into production more quickly, particularly within the Nargis development area.
The Egyptian government continues to promote upstream investment through incentives aimed at boosting exploration and production activity, as it seeks to offset declining domestic output and reduce reliance on energy imports.
Rising regional energy demand and geopolitical pressures have further increased the urgency of expanding local production capacity.
Recent exploration activity across Egypt has delivered several notable discoveries. Among them, Agiba Petroleum Company a joint venture involving Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation reported one of its most significant finds in more than 15 years in the Western Desert.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the discovery was made through the South Bostan-1X exploratory well, drilled using the EDC-9 rig.
Preliminary estimates indicate resources of approximately 330 billion cubic feet of gas and 10 million barrels of condensates and crude oil, with total recoverable volumes estimated at around 70 million barrels of oil equivalent.
These developments reflect Egypt’s broader strategy to strengthen domestic gas production through accelerated exploration, development of existing discoveries, and continued collaboration with international energy companies.
