CAIRO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced Saturday a new gas discovery in the Nile Delta region of northern Egypt.

According to a ministry statement, the discovery, with a projected production of around 50 million cubic feet per day, is located less than 2 km from the nearest production facilities, enabling rapid connection to the production network in a few weeks.

It was made by the successful drilling of the exploratory well, Nidoco N-2, in the West Abu Madi area in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, about 3 km offshore in shallow waters with a depth of around 10 meters.

This concession area is operated by Italy's energy firm Eni in partnership with Britain's BP and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, through Petrobel.

The Egyptian government has been seeking to increase oil and gas output following a decline in natural gas production over the past few years. In August 2025, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Egypt's current gas production stands at 4.1 billion cubic feet per day, with plans to reach 6.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2027.

The ministry said Egypt plans to drill more than 100 exploratory wells this year to secure new energy reserves. ■