Egypt: President El-Sisi Meets the Prime Minister and Eni Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

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Today in New Alamein City , President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with CEO of Italian energy company Eni, Mr. Claudio Descalzi. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Eng. Karim Badawi. The meeting was also attended by Eni’s Chief Operating Officer- Global Natural Resources, Mr. Guido Brusco; Eni’s Executive Vice President for North Africa, Mr. Diego Portoghesi; Eni Egypt Managing Director, Mr. Andrea Barberi; and Deputy General Manager of Eni Egypt, Mr. Mahmoud Aboul Yazeed.

Spokesman for the Presidency Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy said President El-Sisi began the meeting by lauding the longstanding partnership with Eni and the diverse activities the company is implementing in Egypt, whether in the fields of research, drilling and exploration or within the framework of its community engagement initiatives.

The President looked forward to further advancing this partnership and expanding Eni’s investments in Egypt, which will strengthen Egypt’s role as a regional gas hub while demonstrating the robust cooperative relations between Egypt and Italy. President El-Sisi stressed Egypt’s commitment to providing the necessary facilitations to Eni and eliminating any challenges that may face its operations in the country.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, for his part, expressed appreciation for meeting with President El-Sisi once again, affirming his company’s commitment to strengthening its role as the largest energy company operating in the Egyptian market. Eni CEO noted that Eni’s total investments in Egypt have reached $8.5 billion, highlighting the company’s success to establish itself as a key partner in oil and natural gas research, exploration, development and production activities.

Mr. Descalzi reviewed the progress of Eni’s projects and activities across a number of Egypt’s major production and exploration areas, noting that the company is continuing to implement an integrated investment program in Egypt focused on research, exploration, development and operations across its concession areas nationwide, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Zohr field. Mr. Descalzi added that the company plans to drill 30 exploration wells and 200 development wells during the coming period.

Mr. Descalzi also reviewed Eni’s community development efforts in Egypt, including the company’s plans to develop and manage a hospital in Egypt. In this context, Eni CEO underscored the importance of connecting the Cypriot Cronos gas field to Egypt’s infrastructure, which would serve as a model for regional cooperation in the gas sector and further enhance Egypt’s gains as a regional gas trading hub.

The meeting also addressed the latest developments concerning the company’s operations and projects in Egypt, as well as its future plans to intensify exploration and development drilling programs during 2026 and 2027, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea and the Western Desert. These plans aim at increasing natural gas and crude oil production through the latest seismic surveying and Artificial Intelligence technologies.

The meeting also reviewed developments regarding the connection of the Cypriot Cronos field to Egypt’s infrastructure, as part of efforts to strengthen Egypt’s position as a regional energy and gas trading hub.

President El-Sisi stressed the vital necessity to bolster the fruitful cooperation between Egypt and Eni by expanding exploration and production activities and efforts, with a view to enhancing regional integration and consolidating Egypt’s role as a hub for gas trading, liquefaction and exports.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.