RIYADH: Egypt’s petroleum sector made huge strides in 2023 with the signing of 29 agreements valued at $1.2 billion for oil and gas exploration. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources revealed in a statement that it granted $61 million for drilling 87 new wells. According to the ministry, the North African country’s total petroleum production reached 74 million tons during 2023, including 28 million tons of crude oil and 45 million tons of gas. During the same year, the sector also saw the implementation of various initiatives to reduce and remove carbon from production processes. Those undertakings came in parallel with the implementation of green energy initiatives and low-carbon hydrogen production. The sector achieved another milestone with the initiation of its first international bidding process. Launched for obsolete fields in eight locations in the Gulf of Suez and the Eastern Desert, this endeavor was proposed by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. in March. In September, two additional bids were launched for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. and the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Co. to search for oil and gas in 23 regions in the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea. Furthermore, 51 oil and 14 gas sites were discovered in the Western Desert, the Gulf of Suez, the Nile Delta, and Sinai.