*Ganope Nears Announcement of International Bid Round No. 1/2025, Prepares New Red Sea international bid round.*

International oil companies are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the results of the international bid round No. (1/2025) by South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE). The bid round, launched through the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), closed for submissions in early July 2025.

According to sources, GANOPE has completed the technical and financial evaluation of the submitted offers and is preparing for the official announcement of the winning companies. The results are expected to include the award of four new exploration areas.

Under the leadership of Eng. Ashraf Bahaa, Chairman of GANOPE, and with the support of Dr. Mohamed Radwan, Vice Chairman for Agreements and Exploration, the company is currently witnessing intensive exploration activity. Seismic surveys have commenced across several areas in Upper Egypt, alongside preparations to launch a new bid round in the Red Sea targeting international investors.

As part of its scientific efforts to strengthen the national geological database, GANOPE recently organized — in collaboration with the Egyptian Petroleum Exploration Society (EPEX) and a group of university professors — a four-day geological field trip across the southern Gulf of Suez and Red Sea regions. The mission included 25 geologists from both international and Egyptian companies.

The field trip aimed to study outcrops and surface formations to better understand the petroleum system and its components in these regions. Participants examined Oligocene formations and the Gabel Abu Shaar area, which contains one of the world’s most significant carbonate outcrops — a global reference model for marine carbonate sequences. The team also visited the natural oil seepage site at Gabel El Zeit, a rare geological phenomenon where crude oil flows naturally to the surface through fractures, providing strong scientific evidence of subsurface hydrocarbon potential.

These activities come within the framework of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ strategy to expand exploration and production operations in frontier areas, particularly in the Red Sea and southern Egypt, in order to boost the country’s oil and gas reserves and production over the coming years.