Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, has announced a new international bid round for oil and gas exploration in four Red Sea blocks: RS-Block (1), RS-Block (2), RS-Block (3), and RS-Block (4). The announcement was made during his participation at ADIPEC 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
The bid round, managed by Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), will remain open until Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 12:00 PM.
Badawi explained that this round is the first to use new systems designed to attract global companies to invest in untapped and deepwater areas. It will apply a production-sharing model based on the R-factor, linking returns to the level of risk and investment.
He noted that the initiative supports the ministry’s strategy to draw more foreign investment into exploration and production, especially in unexplored geological regions.
According to the minister, the Red Sea remains one of Egypt’s most promising new petroleum regions, offering strong potential for future discoveries that could raise national production capacity.
Badawi added that the new bid round aims to make better use of Egypt’s resources and increase domestic oil and gas output. He stated that the ministry is concentrating on creating a conducive investment environment and modernizing contract frameworks to align with international industry norms.
In October, during the World Energies Summit in London, Badawi had revealed plans for this bid round through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) during a meeting with SLB’s Director of Exploration Data and Digital Solutions, Andrea Lovatini.
This follows Egypt’s earlier Red Sea bid round in 2019, which offered exploration opportunities in blocks 1, 3, and 4.
source: egyptoil-gas.com
African Energy Council