Eni doubles down on Egypt’s gas with $8.5 billion invested and 230 new wells planned

Key takeaways:

• Eni plans to drill 30 exploration wells and 200 development wells across Egypt
• The company has invested a total of $8.5 billion in Egypt to date
• Eni is working with BP for new gas field within months

Italian energy giant Eni is ramping up investment in Egypt, unveiling plans to drill 30 exploration wells and 200 development wells as it deepens its role in the country’s oil and gas sector.

Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in El Alamein on Tuesday, along with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi.

They discussed the company’s expanding footprint in Egyptian fields and its role in building out the country’s position as a regional gas hub.

Eni has invested a total of $8.5 billion in Egypt to date.

Through its subsidiary Ieoc, the company produced around 242,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, based on its equity share. The plan Descalzi presented calls for a new, intensive phase of drilling activity aimed at increasing production by tapping both new discoveries and existing infrastructure, with a particular focus on “fast-track” projects that can be brought into production quickly using existing plants and connections, as well as extending the operating life of fields already producing.

The activities span several regions of the country, from the Mediterranean to the Nile Delta, from Sinai to the Western Desert.

Since 2025, Eni said these initiatives have driven a 50% increase in production at offshore fields in Sinai, while additional discoveries have been made offshore in the Nile Delta and the Western Desert.

The Denise West discovery

One of the most significant projects underpinning Eni’s push is Denise West, discovered in April 2026 during an offshore drilling campaign launched in October 2025 in the Temsah concession.

The field holds around 56.6 billion cubic meters of gas and 130 million barrels of condensates in place.

The discovery is considered strategic because it can be developed quickly by using existing infrastructure. Eni is working with partners BP and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to reach a final investment decision in the coming months.

Zohr, the largest gas field ever discovered in the eastern Mediterranean, remains central to Eni’s broader Egyptian portfolio. The company continues to operate in the area as part of a wider program of exploration, development and asset management.

The infrastructure built around Egypt’s gas production and processing system extends beyond any single field, forming one of the pillars enabling Cairo to consolidate its position as a regional energy hub, an outcome that aligns with Italy’s own strategic interest in Egypt as an energy platform linking domestic production, regional gas supplies and export infrastructure across the Mediterranean.