As oil prices fluctuate due to ongoing regional instability since February, Egypt has managed to achieve a nearly 20 percent increase in crude oil production, reaching its highest level in almost two years. Despite global disruptions, this surge is attributed to the government's settlement of outstanding payments owed to foreign investment partners, which encouraged them to make new investments and increase exploration, development, and production, according to Salah Hafez, former Deputy Chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat. On Saturday, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum announced that the country's crude oil production had reached its highest level in nearly two years, stressing that this reflects the success of the ministry's strategy to stimulate investment and boost domestic output. The strategy has focused on paying dues owed to investment partners, encouraging them to commit new capital and expand exploration, development, and production efforts. In a statement issued Saturday, the Ministry of Petroleum added that operating rates at Egypt's refineries rose to around 80 percent this year, helping meet local demand for petroleum products and reducing the need for imports. The improved performance of the refineries has also boosted exports of petroleum products, which exceeded 2.3 million tons during the first half of 2026 - equivalent to Egypt's total petroleum product exports for all of 2025, according to Minister Karim Badawi. He noted that Egypt aims to increase petroleum product exports to approximately 2.5 million tons during the second half of this year. Mahmoud Nagy, spokesperson for the Ministry of Petroleum, stated on Saturday that crude oil production had risen by about 20 percent compared with previous levels. He said Egypt currently produces between 520,000 and 550,000 barrels of crude oil per day, as a result of increased development and exploration in oil fields. These efforts support the government's goal of growing domestic production and reducing reliance on imports. Badawi inspects Alexandria Petroleum Company refinery projects (Egypt cabinet Facebook page) Nagy explained that the state's commitment to paying foreign partners their outstanding dues served as a strong incentive for those companies to expand investments, deploy additional drilling rigs, and increase their budgets for operations in Egypt. The former deputy chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation noted that billions of dollars in overdue payments had been settled over the past few months. He also pointed out that the current increase in production is a direct result of investments in already-drilled wells. Maintenance work was carried out on these wells to enhance productivity after they had previously become inactive due to a lack of financial resources available to operating companies. Oil is not the only source supporting stability in Egypt's energy supplies. Natural gas is also playing a key role. On Sunday, the Minister of Petroleum announced that Egypt had successfully secured all domestic natural gas needs during the recent period of peak consumption, which coincided with a significant rise in temperatures. Regarding Egypt's ambition to become a regional energy hub, Hafez said that higher production levels support this objective. As for the sustainability of the current production increase, he noted that maintaining it will require replacing extracted reserves with new discoveries. He added that there are promising indicators and prospects in Egypt's western regions and the western Mediterranean, although these areas remain in the exploration stage and have not yet reached the phase of confirmed commercial production.
