en.Wedoany.com Reported - Egypt is pushing the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates to expand its investment scale in the country's oil and gas sector, aiming to revive exploration activities and boost domestic production.

Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, held talks with ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber in Abu Dhabi, during which specific demands for increased investment were raised. The Egyptian ministry disclosed details of the meeting in a statement. The two sides focused on discussing untapped natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean, promising open exploration areas, and potential investment opportunities in the Red Sea region.

Arcius Energy, a joint venture between ADNOC's XRG company and British energy firm BP, has planned a series of operations this year, including developing the Harmattan gas field, initiating the drilling of the Atoll West exploration well in the Mediterranean basin, and continuing work on the Zohr gas field and the North Damietta area in the Mediterranean. The Egyptian ministry confirmed these arrangements.

Last month, Egypt settled all outstanding payments owed to global oil and gas companies, a move expected to attract more industry investment into the country's market. In May, ADNOC announced plans to award contracts worth 200 billion UAE dirhams (approximately $55 billion) over the next two years to support the expansion of its upstream and downstream operations. This announcement came after the UAE declared its withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the broader OPEC+ group.

In February, the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company, a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Dubai-based Dragon Oil, stated that it plans to invest nearly $516 million between 2026 and 2027 to increase Egypt's domestic crude oil production by about 15%.