Written by: Islam El-Sakka
The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Engineer Karim Badawi, announced the start of the first phase of the advanced marine seismic survey project in the Eastern Mediterranean within two weeks, covering an area of up to 18,000 square kilometers, using the Ocean Bottom Nodes (OBN) survey technology, aiming to enhance natural gas discovery opportunities and attract new global investments.
Details of the Marine Seismic Survey Project
This project comes concurrently with the arrival of the marine operations vessel Commander to Port Said port, to be the first vessel participating in the marine survey works, while two other vessels will join it to complete the necessary preparations to carry out operations in the Denis, off Port Said, and Ras El Bar areas, whose works will continue until the end of 2026 according to the specified executive program.
The Minister of Petroleum emphasized that the project represents a pivotal step in developing research and exploration activities in Egyptian waters, pointing out that the use of modern technologies contributes to collecting highly accurate geological data about the geological structures located beneath the seabed, which reduces technical risks associated with drilling exploratory wells and supports economic development plans.
Converting Data into Investment Opportunities
The minister explained that improving data quality allows companies to identify promising areas with natural gas reserves more accurately, which helps accelerate investment decisions and exploratory drilling during the coming period, in addition to converting the survey results after interpretation into promising investment opportunities offered to major global companies.
It is worth noting that the project is implemented through the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) in cooperation with a consortium comprising global companies SLB and Viridien, as part of a comprehensive program targeting a total area of up to 95,000 square kilometers in Egyptian waters in the Eastern Mediterranean to support the energy sector and increase domestic production in the future.
