Egypt’s gas enthusiasm fires Energean

The North African country’s appetite for molecules bodes well for future attractiveness

UK-listed Energean is a relative newcomer to the Egyptian upstream, having gained entry through the acquisition of the E&P assets of Italian utility Edison in 2019. But the firm’s country manager for Egypt, Nicolas Katcharov, is an older hand, having joined Edison’s Egyptian arm a couple of years earlier. And what has struck him in his half-decade is Cairo’s enthusiasm for the oil and gas sector, he tells Petroleum Economist, in stark contrast to the attitude to hydrocarbons in certain other jurisdictions. And it is this symbiotic combination of domestic demand for energy and government willingness to facilitate production that convinces him, despite ongoing challenges in the country, th