U.S. Oil Firm Apache Plans To Invest $1.4 Billion In Egypt - OILPRICE.COM

Aug 21, 2023, 8:30 AM CDT

Charles Kennedy

Apache Corporation plans to invest next year $1.4 billion in Egypt’s energy industry, where the U.S. firm is one of the biggest investors and the largest oil producer in the North African country.

The investment plans were unveiled during a meeting on Sunday of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly with Apache chief executive John Christmann, the government of Egypt said in a statement carried by local and Arab media.

Egypt expressed hopes that Apache would expand its oil and gas exploration activities and investments in the country despite the global economic slowdown.

Apache, for its part, committed to deepening its partnership with Egypt and discussed raising its oil production in the country, the cabinet said.

Thanks to upgrades, Apache has recently managed to increase its oil production by 10% to more than 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), Christmann told Egyptian officials, according to the statement from the government.

Eni secures five oil and gas exploration licences in Egypt - OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY

January 11, 2022

The licences are located in the Western Desert, the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the Gulf of Suez.

Italian oil and gas company Eni has received five new exploration licences from the Egyptian government, including four as operator.

The licences, located offshore and onshore, were awarded as part of the Egypt International Bid Round for Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation, launched in 2021 by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

Covering a total acreage of approximately 8,410km², the licences include Block EGY-MED-E5 and Block EGY-MED-E6 in the Mediterranean Sea, Block EGY-GOS-13 in the Gulf of Suez, and Blocks Egy-WD- 7 and EGY-WD-9 in the Western Desert.

In a statement, Eni said: “The licences are placed within prolific basins with proved petroleum systems able to generate liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, and can also rely on nearby existing producing and processing facilities and on a demanding market that will allow a quick valorisation of the potential exploration discoveries.”

The results are in line with the Italian firm’s strategy to continue to explore and produce gas in Egypt to sustain the domestic market.

Egypt starts construction of gas pipeline in Western Desert - REUTERS

CAIRO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Egypt started construction of a gas pipeline in the Western Desert with an expected capacity of 15 million cubic feet of gas per day, the petroleum ministry said on Facebook on Saturday, citing the head of the General Petroleum Corporation.

The company's current production is about 74,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, he said.

Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; writing by Yomna Ehab; editing by Jason Neely

Shell Completes Sale of Western Desert Assets in Egypt to Cheiron and Cairn - JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY (JPT)

NEAG 1 in NE Abu El-Gharadig, Western Desert

September 26, 2021

Pat Davis Szymczak

Royal Dutch Shell has completed the sale of its upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert to a consortium of independent E&P operators focused on revitalizing mature oil and gas fields, Cheiron Petroleum Corporation and Cairn Energy, both UK-based.

Having received final government and regulatory approvals completing the sale, Shell said it will focus its Egyptian business on the offshore, including the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM), the Harmattan Deep Project, and exploration acreage in seven new blocks in the Nile Delta, West Mediterranean, and the Red Sea, according to a 24 September news release.

Shell’s midstream focus will remain on its Egyptian LNG joint venture; downstream the company still retains Shell Lubricants Egypt.

Shell Strikes $926 Million Deal to Sell Oil Assets in Egyptian Desert - BLOOMBERG

March 9, 2021, 9:27 AM
Salma El Wardany and Elena Mazneva

• Shell divests concessions for up to $926m to Cairn, Cheiron
• Cairn in turn offloads U.K. stakes for at least $460 million

Cairn Energy Plc reshuffled its portfolio, selling $460 million of assets in the U.K. North Sea and buying projects in Egypt’s Western Desert from Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Both deals, announced Tuesday and seen completing in the second half of 2021, follow a pickup in oil and gas acquisitions after 2020’s pandemic-driven slump. Cairn’s retreat from the North Sea comes after several other international producers have withdrawn from the aging region. Meanwhile its purchase in Egypt enables Shell to chalk up proceeds in an ongoing divestment program.

“Cairn needed to rejuvenate its investment case, and this move does that,” Al Stanton, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note. “However, shareholders are faced with a steep learning curve” and Egyptian assets typically provide “limited oil-price leverage.”

Carlyle, Cairn Energy-backed group among bidders for Shell’s Egypt assets-sources - REUTERS

JULY 15, 2020 / 4:25 PM

Hadeel Al Sayegh, Ron Bousso

DUBAI/LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Buyout firm Carlyle and a consortium backed by Cairn Energy are among the bidders for Royal Dutch Shell’s onshore Egyptian oil and gas assets, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Bids for the assets are now expected to be sharply lower than initial estimates of up to $1 billion due to a weaker outlook for global oil and gas prices, said the sources, declining to be named as the matter is not public.

Shell launched a process at the end of November to sell its onshore upstream assets in the Western Desert as it focuses on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration.

2020Egypt plans to sign oil and gas exploration and production contracts in 2021 - ZAWYA

17 JUNE, 2020
Marwa Abo Almajd

Egypt has signed 12 oil and gas exploration and production agreements involving local and international companies, an official of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said.

Spokesperson Hamdy Abd Alaziz told Zawya Projects last week that the agreements have received cabinet approval and the contracts are expected to be signed in 2021 after parliamentary approvals.

He said agreements were signed with companies from the US, UK, France, Kuwait and the UAE to start exploration and production activities in the Western Desert, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

Abd Alaziz said the local counterparties to the agreements included the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), which has projects in Narges, North Al Dabaa; North Sidi Barani; North Al-Salloum; North Al-Amiriya; North of Ras Kanais; North Marina and North of Cleopatra in the Mediterranean; Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), which has projects in Blocks 1, 3, and 4 on the Red Sea, and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), which has a project in East Abu Sennan in the Western Desert.

In December 2019, Reuters reported that Egypt had awarded oil and gas exploration concessions in its first ever Red Sea licensing round.

International oil companies begin submitting offers for Shell’s Egypt assets - ENTERPRISE

Awarded Concessions 2018 Licensing Round

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

M&A WATCH- IOCs bidding for Shell’s Egypt assets: Royal Dutch Shell has begun receiving offers from international companies for the upcoming sale of its onshore upstream assets in Egypt’s Western Desert, the local press reports, citing an unnamed industry source. The source did not say how many offers have been submitted so far, or which companies have expressed their interest in Shell’s Egypt portfolio. Shell is looking to close the sale, which could net as much as USD 1 bn for the company, by the end of the year.

Background: Shell had said back in October it is planning the divestment “in order to fully concentrate on growing its Egyptian offshore exploration and integrated gas business.” The company’s portfolio in the Western Desert includes stakes in 19 oil and gas assets including the Badr El Din and Obaiyed area, as well as the North East Abu El Gharadig, West Sitra, Bed 1 gas, and West Alam El Shawish concessions, according to the company website. Shell is not divesting from its offshore assets, downstream lubricants, or its share in Egyptian LNG.

Egypt- Shell close to finalising sale of its oil assets in Western Desert - MENAFN / DAILY NEWS EGYPT

11/27/2019 6:14:45 AM 

(MENAFN - Daily News Egypt) Dutch Shell company is close to finalising the sale of its existing oil assets and natural gas concession areas in the Western Desert, which represent about 80% of its assets in Egypt.

A source in the petroleum sector told Daily News Egypt that after completing the deal, the company will only have Rashid and Burullus fields whose production is estimated at 290m cubic feet of gas per day (scf/day).

He added that the company has five research and exploration areas after winning the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company's (EGAS) tender. This will not be included in the sale as there is no development and production agreement.

He explained that Shell Egypt was granted oil exploration rights in three areas in the concessions of West Fayoum, Southeast Horus, and South Abu Sinan with investments of $24.7m, $24.5m, and $7.8m, respectively. The company also plans to obtain 14 exploratory wells in the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation's (EGPC) tender.

Shell appoints Citi for $1 bln sale of Egypt assets -sources - REUTERS

NOVEMBER 15, 2019 / 2:21 PM
Ron Bousso

• Western Desert sale process to launch end of Nov.
• Shell’s share of production reached 100,000 boed last year

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has appointed investment bank Citi to run the sale of its onshore Egyptian oil and gas assets which could fetch around $1 billion, sources close to the process said.

The sale process is expected to be officially launched at the end of November, the sources said.

Shell said last month it plans to sell its onshore upstream assets in the Western Desert to focus on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration.

Zohr natgas output to surpass 3 bcf/d this month - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Zohr natgas production to exceed 3 bcf/d this month: Production from the 13 wells at the giant Zohr natural gas field is expected to surpass 3 bcf/d by the end of October, up from 2.7 bcf/d in August, Eni IEOC JV boss Luca De Caro said on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference in Alexandria, the Oil Ministry said in a statement. Eni originally estimated that production would peak at 2.7 bcf/d, but the ministry said earlier this year that output would rise above 3 bcf/d in 2019.

More wells on the horizon: Eni plans to drill 11 exploration wells in the Nile Delta, Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez regions this year and nine other wells in the coming year, De Caro said. Eni has also been producing 1.2 bcf/d of natural gas from its Nooros gas field since the end of 2017 when the two phases of the project were completed. High profile representatives from BP, Wintershall DEA, Shell and Edison also attended the conference, which kicked off yesterday.

United Oil & Gas’ acquisition of Rockhopper Egypt on track to close by 4Q2019 - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 8 October 2019

United Oil & Gas’ acquisition of Rockhopper Egypt “progressing well”: Rockhopper Exploration’s sale of its Egypt business to Irish energy company United Oil & Gas is on track to be completed by the end of 4Q2019, Rockhopper said in a statement yesterday. Rockhopper and United had signed a USD 16 mn share purchase agreement in July, which would see the Irish company acquire a non-operating 22% interest in the onshore Abu Sennan oil concession, among other assets. The agreement “will be satisfied” once United makes a cash payment of at least USD 11 mn. BP had previously agreed to provide USD 8 mn to partially fund the acquisition after it entered an offtake agreement for United’s future oil and gas production.

Egypt’s Offshore Red Sea Oil & Gas exploration Bid Round closes today - ENERGY EGYPT

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 AT 1:57 PM

The Red Sea oil and gas exploration tender ends today, with bids from major oil producers expected to be announced later. Shell, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Dragon Oil, Russian Rosneft and Total have all reportedly bidding for 10 oil and gas exploration blocks off the Red Sea coast under a new production sharing contract, which were tendered back in March by the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), sources told Egypt Today on Thursday.

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, represented by South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope), will close receiving tenders for the 2019 international bidding in the Red Sea on Sunday, Sept. 15 before noon.

Sources at the petroleum sector told Egypt Today that companies applying to the tender included Shell, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Dragon Oil, Russian Rosneft and Total France.

ENPEDCo, EGPC ink agreements for Western Desert oil and gas exploration - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 8 September 2019

The Egyptian National Petroleum for Exploration and Development Company (ENPEDCo) and the EGPC signed two agreements to explore oil and gas in the Western Desert last week, the Oil Ministry said in a statement. 

The companies intend to invest at least USD 4 mn to drill four exploratory wells in the Abu Sennan and Ras Qattara concessions.

Qarun drills 10 exploratory wells in Western Desert - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 3 September 2019

Qarun Petroleum, a joint venture between Apache and the Egyptian General Petroleum Company, has drilled 10 exploratory wells in the Western Desert, producing a combined 5k bbl/d, the Oil Ministry said in a statement yesterday. 

This will account for 16% of the company’s total production. 

The company is now considering investing USD 237 mn during FY2019-2020 in further development projects.

Egypt launches licensing round for Red Sea oil and gas exploration - THE NATIONAL

March 10, 2019

Jennifer Gnana

Saudi Arabia said last week that it had found "large volumes" of gas offshore
Egypt will look to incentivise exploration in the Red Sea area, which is expected to include unconventional resources.

Egypt has tendered 10 blocks offshore the Red Sea as it looks to duplicate its successes in the Eastern Mediterranean, which led to a gas bonanza ending the country’s imports for the fuel.

The South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) invited companies on Sunday to review and purchase technical data, with August 1 set as the closing date for bids.

The announcement follows Egypt’s successful closing of one it largest ever bid rounds, which saw the award of 12 licences and marked the entry of US major Exxon in the search for the country’s hydrocarbons. Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state struck gold in recent years thanks to the discovery of the massive Zohr field by Italian energy major Eni in 2016 in the Eastern Mediterranean. The find sparked search for more hydrocarbon resources along the Nile Delta and western desert as the North African state looked to leverage these discoveries to become a net exporter of gas, particularly to markets in Europe.

TransGlobe Spuds on South Ghazalat - PETROLEUM AFRICA

Thursday, October 25, 2018

TransGlobe Energy spud its SGZ 6X well on the South Ghazalat concession in Egypt’s Western Desert. The well, the second exploration well in the concession, was spud on October 23.

The SGZ 6X is located on the eastern portion of the concession offsetting the Raml oil field in the Abu Gharadig basin. The SGZ 6X prospect is targeting stacked Cretaceous oil targets similar to the producing Raml and SW Raml fields.

On TransGlobe’s South Alamein concession, also in the Western Desert, the company received notification from the military that access will be granted to drill the South Alamein 24X (SA 24X) Jurassic exploration prospect. It has submitted the required documentation and is awaiting final written approval which is expected prior to year-end. Concurrently, the company initiated preparations to drill SA 24X as part of the 2019 exploration program.

Blue Water Energy LLP to partner with Apex International Energy - BLUE WATER ENERGY LLP

Houston, 22 October 2018

Apex International Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Egypt and other Middle Eastern and North African countries (“MENA”), today announced that affiliates of Blue Water Energy LLP (BWE or Blue Water Energy) have agreed to partner with Apex and join the existing investors: Warburg Pincus LLC, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and company management.

Apex is primarily focused on pursuing acquisitions and drilling opportunities in MENA, with an initial focus on Egypt. The Company will continue to acquire assets and licenses, whilst driving value creation through the execution of production optimization opportunities, developments and exploration opportunities of scale. Blue Water Energy, Warburg Pincus LLC and the IFC are jointly providing funding to support Apex’s investment program, including drilling, asset acquisitions and corporate transactions.

Italy's Eni to drill North Sinai exploratory oil well next week- EGAS official - ZAWYA / ENTERPRISE

23 SEPTEMBER, 2018

CAIRO - Italy's Eni and Egypt's Tharwa Petroleum will drill the first exploratory oil well in northern Sinai's offshore Noor field next week, an official at Egypt's gas company EGAS said on Thursday.

Egypt's cabinet approved in March a $105 million deal to explore the North Sinai region of the Mediterranean Sea. Tharwa Petroleum, which holds a 15% stake in Noor.

Expectations are high: Eni, which holds an 85% stake in the field, denied in recent months reports claiming that it had discovered 90 tcf of reserves there, or 3x as much as the supergiant Zohr field. The company signed two other agreements with the government last month for exploration in the Nile Delta and Western Desert.

Eni Makes New Gas Discovery in Egypt - RIGZONE

Thursday, August 30, 2018Valerie Jones

Italian oil and gas company Eni S.p.A. has made a new gas discovery in the Egyptian Western Desert, the company announced Aug. 30.

The discovery well has been drilled on the Faramid South exploration prospect located in East Obayed concession, 30 km North-West of the Melehia Concession

The well was drilled on the Faramid South exploration prospect in East Obayed Concession, 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of the Melehia Concession and reached a target depth of 17,000 feet.

The discovery well has been open to production delivering 25 million cubic square feet per day, confirming the East Obayed Concession’s potential, the company said.