Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, held talks with Pascal Breant, Managing Director of TotalEnergies in Egypt and Cyprus, to review the company’s plans to resume and expand natural gas exploration activities across Egypt. Central to these discussions was the Herodotus Basin in the Western Mediterranean, where TotalEnergies is preparing to intensify its presence. The meeting builds on earlier conversations held this month regarding the company’s renewed interest in advancing natural gas exploration in the country.
Badawi welcomed the company’s intention to scale up investments, emphasizing that natural gas exploration remains a cornerstone of the ministry’s long-term strategy to gradually boost domestic production. He noted that the Mediterranean continues to be a focal point for future upstream activity, supported by Egypt’s well-established infrastructure and extensive technical expertise. According to the minister, these strengths position the country to unlock further opportunities in natural gas exploration while fostering partnerships with major international operators. He also reiterated the government’s commitment to maintaining a supportive investment climate, including offering incentives aimed at encouraging increased capital inflows and expediting project development.
Breant, in turn, acknowledged the Ministry of Petroleum’s efforts to strengthen collaboration with global energy firms. He said TotalEnergies considers Egypt a key strategic market and intends to deepen its footprint through expanded investments, particularly in Mediterranean assets where prospects for natural gas exploration remain promising. Both parties underlined the need to accelerate technical coordination and finalize ongoing discussions, with the goal of signing a memorandum of understanding in the near term and moving ahead with joint exploration initiatives.
The latest engagement follows a prior meeting on April 14th, where Badawi and Breant examined TotalEnergies’ plans for increasing investments in Egypt’s Western Mediterranean region, again highlighting the Herodotus Basin. During that session, both sides agreed to work toward a framework cooperation agreement between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and TotalEnergies in the coming period.
