Egypt’s EGAS and Cheiron have signed an agreement to explore for natural gas in the East Alexandria offshore area of the Mediterranean.
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry announced the signing on 9 November, describing an investment commitment exceeding $42 million for three exploratory wells and seismic-data reprocessing.
Cheiron’s own announcement on 10 November confirms the concession agreement but describes the drilling commitment as a minimum of one exploratory well, alongside seismic reprocessing, and does not specify a monetary amount. The two releases therefore give different levels of detail; the ministry’s three-well programme should not be presented as a number separately confirmed by Cheiron.
Both announcements concern exploration rather than a discovery or an approved producing development. Neither gives a firm drilling-start date or recoverable-resource estimate. Any future production depends on exploration results and further investment decisions.
Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi witnessed the signing. Cheiron chief executive David Chi described the concession as an addition to the company’s Egyptian portfolio.
Clarification, 13 November 2026: This report now distinguishes the ministry’s stated programme from Cheiron’s subsequently published description.
Sources: Egyptian Petroleum Ministry, 9 November 2026; Cheiron, 10 November 2026.
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Image credit: Gate 10 of the Port of Alexandria, Egypt, 18 May 2024. Illustrative location file photograph, not the offshore concession or signing. Marsupium / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.
By Energy People.
