Badawi: Petroleum Exports Reach 14% of National Total
On the sidelines of Baker Hughes Annual Meeting 2026, Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, participated in a panel discussion titled “The energy equationimplementation: government pathways to a balanced energy future.” During the session, he reviewed Egypt’s strategy to maximize its assets, infrastructure, and geographical location to meet domestic demand while serving regional markets and global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade.
Egypt continues to reinforce its role as a regional energy hub over the upcoming decade, leveraging its significantly developed infrastructure and intensified upstream activities. This will solidify its position as a reliable energy partner in a volatile global environment, Badawi said.
Badawi highlighted that Egypt’s petroleum sector is optimizing the utilization of crude oil, condensates, and natural gas through refining, processing, and conversion into higher-value products for both domestic consumption and export. Petroleum, petrochemical, and mining exports exceed $7 billion, representing about 14% of Egypt’s total exports.
He also highlighted that the focus on developing the refining and petrochemical sectors and value-added industries, pointing out that Egypt is working to achieve balance within the energy sector to ensure security of supply, attract long-term investments, and support industrialization while adopting future energy solutions.
The minister also noted that investor confidence has strengthened due to clear and competitive regulatory and fiscal frameworks, pointing to the latest Red Sea exploration bid round, open until May 2026, which applies a profit-based production sharing model and offers competitive terms for international oil companies (IOCs).
In November, the ministry revealed a new international bid round for exploration and production operations in blocks RS-Block (1), RS-Block (2), RS-Block (3), and RS-Block (4) located in the Red Sea, and will introduce a production-sharing system based on the R-Factor.
During the panel, Badawi highlighted Egypt’s five-year upstream strategy, backed by strong foreign partner commitments. The ministry launched a $5.7 billion investment plan to drill 480 new wells by 2030, including 101 wells scheduled for 2026 across the Mediterranean, Western Desert, Gulf of Suez, and Nile Delta basins.
Badawi added that an incentive package introduced in the second half (H2) of 2024 has resulted in 21 new agreements with international energy companies worth $1.1 billion in investments, expected to add around 300 wells to the production map.
He stressed that these policies, incentives, and sector reforms send strong signals of shared commitment and reduced investment risk for foreign partners, aligning with Egypt’s long-term energy transition and sector growth objectives.