GUPCO and SLB plan 1,035-sq-km OBN survey in Gulf of Suez

Egypt’s Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO) and SLB signed a contract for an ocean-bottom-node (OBN) seismic survey in GUPCO’s central and southern Gulf of Suez concession areas. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources published the announcement on 25 October. Work is scheduled to begin next month.

The survey will cover 1,035 square kilometres, which the ministry called the region’s largest project of its kind using OBN technology. The method places receivers on the seabed to record seismic signals. The ministry said it aims to produce a more detailed geological picture, identify exploration opportunities, lower exploration risk and attract investment to support domestic production.

The contract was signed by GUPCO and SLB; the announcement also described roles for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Dragon Oil. Dragon Oil is identified as GUPCO’s investment partner. The ministry gave no contract value, completion date, planned well count or estimate of potential oil volumes.

The ministry said five exploration wells drilled using earlier seismic data between 2022 and 2026 had an 80% success rate, compared with 25% during 2017–2022. That comparison applies to GUPCO’s stated drilling periods and the seismic data used. It does not establish that the new survey will produce the same success rate.

The ministry also said output from GUPCO fields had reached its highest level since 2019, but supplied no production volume. It separately described seismic work covering more than 100,000 square kilometres in the southern Western Desert, a planned survey of about 110,000 square kilometres in the Western Desert near the Libyan border, and a broader eastern Mediterranean programme. These are projects distinct from the Gulf of Suez contract.

The eastern Mediterranean programme’s first phase covers 18,000 square kilometres, with a broader target of about 95,000 square kilometres, and is being carried out by EGAS with SLB and Viridien. The ministry described all the surveys as part of an effort to widen exploration coverage. The OBN contract begins new data collection; it does not announce a commercial discovery, reserves or a production increase.

The other survey areas mentioned in the same ministry release involve different companies and locations. Work in the southern Western Desert covers more than 100,000 square kilometres, while a new project of about 110,000 square kilometres is being prepared near the Libyan border in the Western Desert. The eastern Mediterranean programme has an 18,000-square-kilometre first phase and an overall target of about 95,000 square kilometres. These areas should not be added to the new GUPCO OBN contract’s 1,035-square-kilometre scope; they are separate programmes.

The ministry presented the new work as data collection intended to help reduce exploration risk, rather than as an investment decision or drilling programme. Seismic data can inform assessment of geological structures, but the source does not say which party would drill how many wells afterward or what findings would trigger an investment decision. The historical success rates in the announcement should therefore not be read as results for the new survey area.

The announcement gives no schedule for these activities or date for making the survey data available to investors.