Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said Minister Karim Badawi met SLB chief executive Olivier Le Peuch on 12 October on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh. They reviewed the advanced ocean-bottom-node (OBN) seismic survey in the East Mediterranean, being conducted by the petroleum sector with the SLB–Viridien consortium. The ministry said the survey covers about 95,000 square kilometres.

The discussion covered the survey schedule, data processing and steps toward releasing preliminary results. The ministry said work would prepare technical data for access through the Egypt Upstream Gateway. The data may help companies assess geological opportunities in future international exploration bid rounds; the announcement does not report a new licence, drilling decision or discovery.

Badawi and Le Peuch also discussed horizontal drilling at existing Egyptian fields, the use of artificial intelligence in reservoir management and next steps for seismic work in the Red Sea. For horizontal drilling, they considered possible pilot fields, suitable commercial and contractual models, and performance-linked incentives. The ministry gave no specific field, investment amount or start date for these proposals.

The ministry described its long-running partnership with SLB as important for technology transfer and technical capacity in Egypt’s petroleum sector. The meeting also covered greater local participation in services and manufacturing, development of Egyptian technical skills and a stronger regional role for Egypt in petroleum technology services. These were agenda items and aims; the release announced no new signed contract or realised increase in output.