A local company has found a deposit estimated to add around 15 billion cubic feet to the country's reserves

Egypt has discovered a new natural gas field in the Western Desert, the country's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Saturday.

According to the ministry, the find was made by local company Badr El Din Petroleum during exploratory drilling at the BED 15-31 well in the Badr-15 concession, about 300km west of Cairo. The well has already been connected to the production network, producing around 16 million cubic feet of gas and 750 barrels of condensates per day.

The field is expected to add roughly 15 billion cubic feet of gas to existing reserves. It lies within the lower marine reservoir, which is currently undergoing re-evaluation "to select the best locations for future drilling of new wells, which will support increased production and maximize gas reserves."

The discovery adds momentum to Cairo's broader campaign "to gradually increase gas production and reduce imports," the statement said.

In October, Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi outlined plans to drill about 480 new exploration wells over the next five years, with investments exceeding $5.7 billion. In 2026 alone, 101 wells are planned, mainly in the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez, the Mediterranean, and the Nile Delta.

Further international cooperation is also underway. In August, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) signed an agreement with Russia's Zarubezhneft to develop an onshore block in the Nile Delta, involving an estimated $14 million investment and four new wells.

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Egypt produced about 4.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2024, according to Business Today Egypt. Last year, the government aimed to raise output to 6 billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2025. However, more recent data indicate only a modest increase of over 200 million cubic feet per day since August, with no confirmation that the target has been met.