RIYADH: Egypt has approved $221 million worth of deals with foreign firms for oil exploration and exploitation in the Western Desert and Gulf of Suez.

A statement issued following a meeting of the country’s Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, said ministers had signed off on five draft petroleum commitment agreements.

The deals involve the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co., and a group of international oil companies. 

Egypt’s oil and gas sector is rapidly expanding through exploration and global deals, reinforcing its role as a regional energy hub. This aligns with projections from Imarc Group, which forecasts a 4.37 percent annual growth rate for the sector from 2025 to 2033. 

The cabinet release stated: “These agreements cover oil exploration and exploitation in the Northwest Al Maghrah area in the Western Desert, East El Hamad in the Gulf of Suez, East Gemsa Marine in the Gulf of Suez, and the Integrated Research and Development Area in the Western Desert.” 

It added: “They also cover exploration and exploitation of gas and crude oil in the North Damietta Marine area in the Mediterranean Sea.” 

The contracts include a non-refundable signature bonus of $31.5 million and require the drilling of at least 24 wells, the cabinet said. 

Last month, the cabinet approved two deals allowing the Ministry of Petroleum to sign contracts with foreign firms. One permits South Valley Egyptian Petroleum and Lukoil to operate in South Wadi El-Sahl in the Eastern Desert, while the other authorizes the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Lukoil to explore the adjacent Wadi El-Sahl area. 

Egypt holds a key position in global energy markets through the Suez Canal and Suez-Mediterranean pipeline. 

Since its 2015 expansion, the Suez Canal has served as a vital route for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Asia. Revenue from these transit points makes up a significant portion of the government’s income. 

In April, officials reported that Suez Canal revenue fell by nearly two-thirds over the past year, citing regional tensions and Middle East conflicts as major factors disrupting traffic. 

The canal remains a critical source of foreign currency, handling around 10 percent of global trade in recent years. 

RIYADH: Rent increases and fuel price rises helped Saudi Arabia post an inflation rate of 2.3 percent in April — the same level as a year earlier — official data showed.

According to the latest figures from the General Authority for Statistics, a 6.8 percent increase in the cost of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed to the rise.

Within this category, rents paid for housing rose by 8.1 percent, driven by an 11.9 percent spike in apartment rental prices, a category that holds significant weight in the overall index. 

This comes as Saudi Arabia’s real estate market continued its growth trajectory in the first quarter of 2025, with overall property prices rising 4.3 percent year on year. 

The Kingdom’s inflation rate was similar to Middle Eastern neighbour Jordan, which posted a modest increase of 1.97 percent in the first four months of 2025, but significantly lower than the 13.5 percent registered in April by Egypt.

In its release, GASTAT stated that rental growth “had a substantial effect on the overall annual inflation rate for April 2025 due to the section’s weight, which amounted to 25.5 percent.” 

The release showed that food and beverage prices also saw an increase of 2.2 percent, influenced by a 9.4 percent rise in vegetable prices. The prices of restaurants and hotels rose by 2 percent, driven by a 2 percent increase in catering services. 

The education sector witnessed a 1.3 percent increase, mainly due to a 5.6 percent rise in fees for intermediate and secondary education. 

The prices of furnishing and home equipment, however, decreased by 1.8 percent, driven by a 3.5 percent decline in furniture, carpets, and flooring prices. 

Clothing and footwear prices dropped by 1.2 percent, with ready-made clothing prices falling by 2.1 percent. 

Transportation costs also decreased by 1 percent, primarily due to a 1.8 percent reduction in vehicle purchase prices. Communication services saw a slight decrease of 1.5 percent. 

Monthly inflation 

The consumer price index recorded a slight increase of 0.3 percent in April compared to March. 

This monthly increase was mainly influenced by the rise in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels by 0.3 percent, driven by a 0.4 percent increase in actual housing rents and prices. 

The report also noted a minor increase in food and beverages with 0.4 percent, restaurants and hotels with 0.7 percent, and personal goods and services with 0.8 percent, compared to the previous month. 

Prices of education saw an increase of 0.2 percent, while furnishing and home equipment prices edged up by 0.4 and clothing and footwear prices went up by 0.2 percent. 

There were decreases in the prices of recreation and culture by 0.4 percent and the transportation, communication and health section by 0.1 percent. 

The prices of tobacco division products showed no significant change in April. 

Wholesale Price Index 

In another report, GASTAT revealed that the Wholesale Price Index reached 2 percent in April compared to the same month of the previous year. 

This increase was mainly driven by a 4.5 percent rise in the prices of agriculture and fishery products, which was affected by a 6.9 percent rise in prices of agricultural products. 

Prices of other transportable goods, excluding metal products, machinery and equipment, saw a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent, driven by an 8.2 percent rise in the prices of refined petroleum products. Moreover, the prices of furniture rose by 9.3 percent. 

Prices of food products, beverages, tobacco, and textiles remained unchanged in April, but ores and minerals prices dipped by 1.7 percent, due to a 1.7 percent decrease in stone and sand prices. 

On a monthly basis, the WPI increased by 0.1 percent in April compared to March, attributed to a 0.7 percent rise in prices of agriculture and fishery products, driven by a 1.3 percent increase in the prices of agricultural products, and a 2.5 percent rise in the prices of fish and other fishing products. 

The prices of metal products, machinery and equipment increased by 0.2 percent driven by a 1.1 percent uptick in the prices of basic metals and a 0.1 percent increase in the prices of equipment transport. 

In a month-on-month comparison, the prices of ores and minerals increased by 0.1 percent, due to a 0.1 percent rise in the prices of stone and sand. 

The prices of other transportable commodities except metal products, machinery and equipment, and the prices of food products, beverages, tobacco, and textiles remained stable, and did not record any significant relative change in April. 

Global and regional inflation trends

Global headline inflation is set to keep moving down, with the World Bank projecting it to decline to 4.2 percent in 2025 and to 3.5 percent in 2026, “converging back to target earlier in advanced economies than in emerging markets and developing economies,” according to an International Monetary Fund report in January.

Across the Middle East, inflation patterns show notable divergence. Lebanon has seen a dramatic slowdown, with annual inflation dropping to 14.2 percent in March from 70.36 percent a year earlier. This sharp deceleration stems largely from exchange rate stabilization, as the Lebanese pound has maintained a steady rate of about 89,500 to the US dollar since mid-2023. 

“Inflation is projected to continue declining across MENA economies, remaining elevated only in few cases,” Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund, stated in April.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s inflation eased by 1.15 percent year on year in January, driven by declines in food, housing, and transport costs, according to data from the National Planning Council.

In late 2024, Gulf economies experienced measured inflationary pressures. Data from the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf showed that overall inflation across GCC states rose by 1.7 percent year-on-year in October.