Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has launched a new international bid round for oil and gas exploration in four offshore blocks in the Red Sea, according to Al Youm Al Sabea, citing Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi. The announcement was made during the ADIPEC 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi.

The tender is being offered by Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE) through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG). The ministry said the round introduces a profitability-linked production-sharing model (R-Factor) intended to account for upfront investment levels and geological risk in frontier offshore basins.

Badawi said the bid round is part of ongoing efforts to attract additional international exploration capital. The submission deadline is May 3, 2026, providing companies time to review available seismic and geological data. The ministry described the Red Sea as an emerging exploration region and noted that 57 international and domestic companies are currently active across Egypt’s oil and gas sector.

The ministry reiterated its target of increasing domestic natural gas production towards 6.6bn cubic feet per day (bcfd) from current output of around 4.1 bcfd, alongside plans to restore LNG export capacity by 2027, depending on upstream development and domestic demand.

On the sidelines of ADIPEC, EGAS signed a letter of intent with ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) to study a new offshore area west of the Zohr field, which the ministry said would bring ExxonMobil’s offshore Eastern Mediterranean exploration portfolio in Egypt to four concessions.

Zohr, one of the largest gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, is operated by Italian energy major Eni (BIT:ENI, NYSE:E) in partnership with Rosneft, BP (LON:BP) and Mubadala. The field’s scale and existing export infrastructure have made the surrounding offshore areas a focus of renewed exploration interest in recent bid rounds.

The ministry also signalled that approximately 11 additional exploration areas are expected to be offered in 2026, as part of efforts to support crude production and sustain long-term investment interest. Specific block configurations and timelines will be released closer to the launch date, the statement said.