Shell spins the drill bit with Stena drillship in Egyptian waters

February 19th, 2026

UK-headquartered energy giant Shell has embarked on multi-well drilling activities off the coast of Egypt with a drillship owned by Scotland-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling.

Stena IceMax; Source: Stena Drilling

Stena Drilling’s Stena IceMax sixth-generation deepwater drillship has started a multi-well offshore program with Shell in Egypt. The first to be spud are the Mina West development wells, followed by Sirius and Velox exploration wells.

The Mina West project is situated in the Northeast El Amriya concession in the Mediterranean Sea. The European energy giant has a 60% operated interest in the asset in partnership with KUFPEC, which holds a 40% stake. The firms will collaborate with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).

Karim Badawi, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has visited the Stena IceMax rig with Dalia ElGabry, VP & Country Chair of Shell, EGAS officials, and the UK firm’s partners. The 2012-built drillship is capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 feet.

ElGabry highlighted: “The level of professionalism, safety discipline, and coordination on display is exemplary of the standards we work toward every day at Shell Egypt. Seeing the operation up close truly showed me the scale of effort behind every well and every milestone.

“What stood out most during the visit was the spirit of collaboration. Engineers, drilling crews, operations teams, and support functions are working in full alignment, with safety, precision, and performance guiding every step.”