Chevron and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) have signed an agreement covering minimum investment of $88 million for natural gas and crude oil exploration in the offshore Lotus area in Egypt’s Mediterranean Sea.
The programme includes two exploration wells and the reprocessing of 3D seismic data. Lotus lies about 200 km off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast in water depths of between 2,000 and 2,800 m, according to Egyptian industry reports. Deep exploration wells have not previously been drilled in the area.
The agreement was signed by EGAS Executive Managing Director Sayed Selim and Chevron Exploration Manager for the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean Andrew Deegan in the presence of Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi.
The ministry said the agreement forms part of its efforts to expand exploration activities and open new areas to petroleum investment. Egypt has continued to offer acreage to investors as part of that wider exploration programme.
Chevron is already active across several offshore exploration areas in Egypt’s Mediterranean waters. Its portfolio includes Nargis, North El Dabaa, Lotus, North West Atoll, North Simian and North Cleopatra.
At Nargis, Chevron operates a gas discovery announced by EGAS in January 2023. Drilling of a further well at the field started in May 2026 as work continued to advance the discovery.
The company is also a partner in North Cleopatra, where Shell drilled the Velox-1X exploration well in 2026. Egypt’s petroleum ministry later reported positive crude oil indications from the well, providing evidence of an active petroleum system in the western Mediterranean area.
The Lotus agreement adds another deepwater exploration programme to Chevron’s activities in Egypt, with the two planned wells set to test an area that has not previously undergone deep exploration drilling.
