By: AGBI

UK energy company BP is set to increase natural gas production from an existing well off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast as the North African country seeks to reduce its energy import costs.

BP will add an estimated 80 million standard cubic feet per day of gas at its Fayoum North-4 well, the petroleum and mineral resources ministry said in a statement.

The project aims to boost domestic gas production by maximising the use of existing infrastructure, it added.

In September, BP signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-backed Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to drill five gas wells in the Mediterranean Sea.

Cairo confirmed in May a natural gas discovery in the Nile Delta, following joint drilling by Italy’s Eni and BP in the West Abu Madi concession area.

Egypt plans to drill 101 oil and gas wells this year as part of a $5.7 billion investment approved by the government in 2025 to drill 480 wells over the next five years.

Egypt’s extractable crude oil and gas reserves are estimated by the Arab Energy Organization at 3.3 billion barrels and 2.1 trillion cubic metres, respectively. However, the country is currently a net importer of hydrocarbons.

In March, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly said the country’s gas import bill had increased by $1.1 billion a month since the outbreak of the Iran war.

Egypt has cleared all its dues to global oil and gas companies, petroleum minister Karim Badawi said in June.