Egyptian Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi announced Wednesday that since July, there had been 18 new oil and gas discoveries in the Western Desert and Nile Delta regions. Thirteen are already integrated into the national production map, producing about 14,000 barrels of oil and condensates and 44 million cubic feet of gas per day.

What happened: In a ministry statement, Badawi said the discoveries reflect the state's efforts to boost domestic oil and gas production and reduce the burden of energy imports on Egypt’s economy.

The minister stressed that for the first time in two years, oil and gas findings were made in the Nile Delta onshore region of Egypt. The first discovery was made by UK company Harbor Energy through the Disouq Petroleum Company after drilling the North Sidi Ghazi 9-1 well. The second was made by UAE firm Dana Gas through the Salma Delta-6 Petroleum Company in the West Qantara area. Both discoveries — which have a combined output of 19 million cfd of natural gas — are being prepared for production.

The discoveries made in the Western Desert included two by Khalda Petroleum Company, a joint venture between Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Texas-headquartered Apache Corporation. The wells, SHAI-3X and WD 33J-1X, have a total output exceeding 3,550 barrels of crude oil and 23 million cfd of gas. The statement said that these wells were already integrated into the production map.