The Egyptian Cabinet, during its meeting on Thursday, approved a draft concession agreement for the exploration and exploitation of natural gas and crude oil in the offshore Lotus area in the Mediterranean Sea.

The agreement will be signed between the Government of Egypt, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), and Chevron Egypt Holdings G Ltd.

The Cabinet also approved another concession agreement for the exploration, development, and production of petroleum across several development areas.

These include Gemsa and Ras El-Behar in the Eastern Desert; Ras Gharib (1) and Ras Gharib (1) Extension in the Western Gulf of Suez and the Eastern Desert; the South Rafah (Abu Radd) development area in the Sinai Peninsula; and the Abu Sennan development area in the Western Desert.

This agreement will be concluded between the Government of Egypt and the General Petroleum Company (GPC).

Both concession agreements include a minimum investment commitment estimated at approximately $85 million.

 These approvals come as part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ broader strategy to attract new investments, accelerate exploration and drilling activities, support plans to increase domestic production, maximize the utilization of Egypt’s natural resources, and reduce the country’s import bill.