Apache to drill 20 horizontal natural gas wells for USD 100 mn - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Apache intends to spend USD 100 mn for horizontal drilling on 20 wells in the Apollonia [formations] in the Western Desert, Al Borsa reports. If successful, the vertical wells are expected to produce around 40 mcf/d from limestone. Apache has spent USD 24 mn so far on exploration and testing in the Apollonia field and expects to bring the second of three other wells online early next month.

How Eni Bet Big and Won Big on Natural Gas off Egypt - NEW YORK TIMES

Eni’s chief executive, Claudio Descalzi

By STANLEY REED OCT. 19, 2016

SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy — A drilling ship working about 120 miles off the Egyptian coast for Eni, the Italian oil company based here, bored into a giant trove of natural gas in July 2015 that turned out to be the largest discovery ever in the Mediterranean Sea and by far the largest by the global petroleum industry that year.

The find, called Zohr, meaning “noon” in Arabic, was the source of enormous relief and even elation at Eni, which had risked $70 million to drill a well in an area where Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch company, had previously drilled 10 without success.

Eni’s chief executive, Claudio Descalzi, let the drilling go ahead — despite serious misgivings inside the company — because some of his geologists were convinced that Shell and other rivals might have missed something big.

“It was a very emotional moment,” said Mr. Descalzi. “We tried to look outside the box.”