Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding on oil, natural gas and petrochemicals in Riyadh on Sunday 11 October 2026, according to Egypt Oil & Gas. The agreement was signed by Karim Badawi, Egypt's minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's minister of energy, on the sidelines of the 17th ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum.
The MoU covers cooperation in trading, transporting, storing and distributing crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas, according to Arab News. It also provides for joint work on developing the infrastructure and logistics services that support those activities, the outlet reported.
Beyond crude and gas logistics, the two sides agreed to exchange expertise and best practice on operating and developing fuel stations, and on transporting and tracking petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, according to the Egyptian Gazette. The agreement additionally seeks to explore joint petrochemical investment opportunities and to promote exports, the newspaper said, citing Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
Egypt's petroleum ministry said the MoU was intended to strengthen cooperation in oil, natural gas and petrochemicals and expand trade in petroleum products, according to Egypt Oil & Gas, which cited a ministry statement on the signing. see.news reported that the agreement's framework focuses on improving energy-market efficiency, strengthening supply-chain resilience and reliability, and supporting energy security.
None of the reports disclosed a monetary value for the agreement or named specific joint projects. As is typical for government-to-government memorandums of this kind, the document sets a framework for cooperation rather than committing either side to a fixed investment or delivery schedule.
The 17th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting, known as IEF17, took place at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh on 11 October under the theme "Energy Security and Shared Goals in a New Era," according to the International Energy Forum's own event page. Saudi Arabia hosted the meeting, with Italy and Nigeria as co-hosts; Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin and Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri led the three delegations, and IEF Secretary General Jassim Alshirawi represented the forum itself, the IEF said.
The Egypt-Saudi MoU was one of several energy agreements Saudi Arabia signed around the IEF17 meeting. Saudi Arabia also signed separate energy cooperation pacts with Kuwait and Qatar, Arab News reported, describing the gathering as bringing together senior energy officials from producing and consuming nations to discuss market stability and cooperation.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia already cooperate closely on energy. Saudi Arabia has been a source of fuel grants and petroleum product shipments to Egypt in past years of foreign-currency strain, and the two countries' electricity grids are physically linked. The new MoU does not replace or amend any existing agreement between the two states; it adds oil, gas and petrochemicals trade and infrastructure to the list of sectors covered by bilateral memorandums, based on the ministry statements cited above.
The energy MoU also sits on top of a broader trading relationship. Saudi Arabia is Egypt's third-largest trading partner globally, with bilateral trade totalling $82.2 billion over 2021 to 2025, according to Arab News, which put 2025 trade at $18.1 billion, up 11 percent on 2024. Mineral fuels, oils and waxes are already among Egypt's leading exports to Saudi Arabia, the same report said, meaning the new MoU's provisions on crude, petroleum products and natural gas trade build on an existing, and growing, trade channel rather than opening an entirely new one.
For Egypt, closer coordination with Saudi Arabia on crude and product logistics, fuel-station operations and LPG cylinder tracking could feed into the government's efforts to professionalise its downstream petroleum sector, an area it has separately been opening to competition and investment. No timeline for implementing specific elements of the MoU was given in any of the reports reviewed.
The Riyadh MoU does not itself commit either government to a specific project. Rather, it gives officials and state companies on both sides a formal basis to negotiate concrete deals in the areas it covers, from crude and product logistics to fuel-station know-how and petrochemical investment, once the two governments decide how to take each item forward.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Egypt-Saudi Arabia oil and gas memorandum cover?
According to Arab News and the Egyptian Gazette, it covers trading, transporting, storing and distributing crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas; joint infrastructure and logistics development; knowledge exchange on fuel-station operations; tracking of petroleum products and LPG cylinders; joint petrochemical investment opportunities; and export promotion.
Who signed the agreement, and where?
Egypt's minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Karim Badawi, and Saudi Arabia's minister of energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed the MoU in Riyadh on 11 October 2026, on the sidelines of the 17th ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum, according to Egypt Oil & Gas and see.news.
Does the deal include a specific investment figure or named projects?
No. None of the reports on the signing disclosed a monetary value or named specific joint projects. It is a government-to-government memorandum of understanding, which typically sets a framework for future cooperation rather than binding either side to a fixed sum or project list.
Did Saudi Arabia sign similar deals with other countries at the same meeting?
Yes. Arab News reported that Saudi Arabia also signed separate energy cooperation agreements with Kuwait and Qatar around the same International Energy Forum ministerial meeting in Riyadh.
