The Egyptian parliament approves four oil and gas exploration agreements.

Written by Ziad Abdel Fattah:

The Egyptian parliament approved on Wednesday four agreements for oil and gas exploration and development, including a project North Sinai Which is co-produced by the French-British independent production company Perenco.

Egypt is seeking to boost domestic energy production to meet rising demand, while military escalation in the region is increasing tensions in global liquefied natural gas markets.

Exploration and production activities

The approvals included exploration and production activities in North Sinai, the Nile Delta, the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

One of the agreements allows the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and Perenco North Sinai Petroleum to explore the onshore Fayrouz area in North Sinai.

Perenco North Sinai Petroleum, a subsidiary of Misr Kuwait Holding Company, has been operating the North Sinai concession since 2014.

The Turquoise block, awarded in June 2025 through EGAS’s 2024 global bidding round, represents a new land frontier for the company, which plans to conduct a 3D seismic survey and drill one exploration well, while oil markets remain focused on security risks in the Middle East.

Reuters reported this month that Iran has asked its Houthi allies to prepare to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait if the United States attacks Iranian energy infrastructure, highlighting the vulnerability of key sea routes for global energy trade.

In another context, the Arab Republic of Egypt welcomed the decision of the Dutch government to ban trade in goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

Egypt affirms that this step represents support for the values of justice and a practical and responsible application of the principles of international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy, foremost among them Security Council Resolution No. 2334, which affirms the illegality of settlements and demands their immediate cessation in order to avoid undermining the chances for peace and the two-state solution.

Based on its firm and supportive stance on the Palestinian cause, Egypt calls on all European Union countries and the international community to follow the example of Belgium and the Netherlands and take similar legal measures to ban settlement products.

Egypt affirms that achieving security and peace in the Middle East will only be possible by ending the occupation and enabling the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights to self-determination, foremost among which is the establishment of their independent and sovereign state on the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.