In brief
Egypt announced that drilling in its Temsah concession has uncovered a gas reservoir estimated at about 200 billion cubic feet. The find, made by Petrobel on behalf of partners Eni and Woodside, features a 15‑metre thick gas‑bearing layer. Technical and reservoir studies are still underway to determine recoverable reserves and production potential, while a 22‑km pipeline is planned to link the well to the Abu Madi‑El Gamil pipeline for quicker integration into the national grid.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on November 6 that drilling at an exploration well within the Temsah offshore concession in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea had yielded a promising gas reservoir, with initial estimates of roughly 200 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
The well, drilled by Petrobel—a joint venture between Italy’s Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation—identified a gas‑bearing layer with a net thickness of approximately 15 m in true vertical depth. The discovery is being studied by technical and reservoir experts to evaluate recoverable reserves and production potential.
Eni operates the Temsah concession in partnership with Australia’s Woodside. Petrobel carried out the drill cut through the agreements of its parent companies. The Ministry said the technical and reservoir studies are continuing to assess the discovery, determine recoverable reserves and production potential, and prepare a development and production plan.
To accelerate the reservoir’s development, a 22‑kilometre pipeline is being planned to connect the well to Egypt’s existing production network. The connection would link the discovery to the Abu Madi‑El Gamil pipeline, using existing infrastructure to reduce the time required to bring the discovery into production and support domestic natural gas output.
The Egyptian Gazette echoed the ministry’s figures, reporting that the Temsah concession’s preliminary estimate also pointed to about 200 billion cubic feet of gas in the reservoir. A separate notice from the Gazette about Egyptian and Iranian foreign ministers’ discussions included a brief mention of the discovery, underscoring its regional significance.
While the figures point toward a potentially valuable addition to Egypt’s energy mix, the Ministry has not yet released detailed recoverable reserve data, and the projected pipeline’s construction timeline remains to be finalized. Technical studies are still running, and the exact production schedule has not been set.
Sources remain uncertain about when the reservoir will become fully productive, how quickly the pipeline will be completed, and what the final recoverable reserve estimates will be. The Ministry and its partners are continuing analysis and planning, with the next public update to be issued once further technical details have been finalized.
