CAIRO, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Petroleum Ministry on Thursday announced new gas and oil discoveries in the Western Desert, with an expected daily output of about 34 million standard cubic feet, alongside over 5,200 barrels of crude oil and condensates.
The discoveries, made by four petroleum sector companies, are part of the ministry's ongoing efforts to offset natural production declines in older wells, reduce import bills, and boost domestic energy output.
Khalda Petroleum Company, a major operator in Egypt's energy sector, discovered two new gas wells.
The first exploratory well, the North Opera-2, located in the Matrouh Development area, is expected to produce 21.15 million standard cubic feet of natural gas and 3,274 barrels of condensate per day. The well is set to begin production by mid-February.
The second well, West El Dabaa-2x in the West El Dabaa concession, is testing at 4.15 million standard cubic feet of natural gas and 336 barrels of condensate per day.
Another well, GPD-1X, was discovered by General Petroleum Company (GPC), an Egyptian national company, in the Sinan development area. It has already been tied into production with an expected daily output of 625 barrels of oil.
Meanwhile, PetroFarah, in collaboration with its partner United Energy Egypt, and Agiba Petroleum Company have made additional discoveries.
Egypt has been trying to boost its oil and gas production amid a decline in natural gas output in recent years. In August 2025, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Egypt's current natural gas production stands at 4.1 billion cubic feet per day and is expected to rise to 6.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2027. ■