Egypt: Gas discovery spurs drilling in the Mediterranean, Nile Delta - ESI AFRICA

August 30, 2023

Yunus Kemp

Egypt plans to drill 45 natural exploratory gas wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta with $1.9 billion in investments until mid-2025.

This follows the discovery, announced in January, in the Nargis Offshore Area Concession which added reserves of 2.5 trillion cubic feet. The discovery is located in the Eastern Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast.

The Narges 1 well was drilled to a depth of 309 metres and has an estimated volume of reserves amounting to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Egyptian government said.

“This has contributed to the interest of a number of international companies to develop the field and work on more explorations the government said.

The discovery of the new gas field comes at a time when Egypt is seeking to increase its gas reserves and exports for which demand has grown worldwide.

Egypt launches new bid round for Mediterranean, Nile Delta oil and gas exploration - REUTERS

December 27, 20222:26 PM GMT+2Last Updated 2 days ago

CAIRO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Egypt has set a new international tender for oil and gas exploration rights in the Nile Delta and Mediterranean sea, the state news agency reported on Tuesday.

The tender was set for 12 blocks, split evenly between onshore and offshore, and the deadline for offers in the bid round was set for April 30, 2023, the tender announcement showed.

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 Cairn’s retreat from the North Sea comes after several other international producers have withdrawn from the aging region.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.”

Eni: New gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt - ENI

01 JULY 2020 11:00 AM CEST

Eni have successfully drilled the first exploration well in the North El Hammad license, in the conventional Egyptian waters of the Nile Delta, on the prospect called Bashrush. The discovery further extends to the west the gas potential of the Abu Madi formation reservoirs discovered and produced from the so-called "Great Nooros Area".

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 1 July 2020 - Eni (as the Operator of the Block), BP and Total (as Contractor members) have successfully drilled the first exploration well in the North El Hammad license, in the conventional Egyptian waters of the Nile Delta, on the prospect called Bashrush.

The new discovery is located in 22 meters of water depth, 11 km from the coast and 12 km North-West from the Nooros field and about 1 km west of the Baltim South West field, both already in production.

Baltim’s Third Well to Be Linked to Year-End Production - EGYPT OIL & GAS

Monday, 25th November 2019

Italian giant, Eni, is working on linking the third well of Baltim field to production by the end of 2019, an official source told Alborsa news.

The third well is expected to add around 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of natural gas and 650 barrels of condensates.

After linking the third well to production, the field’s production is anticipated to reach 290 mmcf/d of natural gas and 1,950 barrels per day (b/d) of condensates, according to the sources.

The source noted that Baltim field includes six well of natural gas with an average production rate of around 75-100 mmcf/d of natural gas, making the total production of natural gas reach 500 mmcf/d.

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.

Dana Gas could sell off its entire Egypt portfolio - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 12 September 2019

The UAE’s Dana Gas has received offers from companies interested in buying its USD 500 mn Egypt portfolio, the company’s head of investor relations Mohammed Mubaideen told Mubasher. The company could potentially sell all of its assets in Egypt, depending on the offers it receives, Mubaideen said, adding that the deadline to receive offers is mid-November. The energy company currently produces 34k boe/d. Mubaideen said the Egyptian government has repaid the company USD 81 mn during the first half of the year and brought its arrears down to USD 117 mn. He reiterated that the reason behind the company’s exit is to focus on potentially more lucrative operations in Iraq.

Background: The Emirati company said in July it had hired financial advisors to study the possibility of selling down its Egypt asset portfolio. Unnamed sources told Reuters that the company hired investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) to advise it on the sale. The company had previously said it would abandon its Merak-1 well in the North Arish concession after failing to find commercial hydrocarbons, but that it plans to invest in drilling in the El Matareya concession in the Nile Delta.

BP to drill new wells in Atoll, Katameya fields in Nile Delta - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 27 August 2019

BP is preparing to drill two new wells in the Atoll and Katameya natural gas fields in its North Damietta offshore concession in the Nile Delta, according to an Oil Ministry statement. 

The drilling work will cost USD 280 mn. 

The Atoll field is expected to produce 100 mcf/d of gas when it comes online in 4Q2020, while the Katameya field will produce 60 mcf/d of gas from 2Q2020.

EGAS to auction up to 11 gas exploration blocks in Egypt’s West Med by 1Q2020 - ENTERPRISE

Thursday, 30 May 2019

EGAS plans fresh WestMed gas exploration tender: The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) plans to put some 11 natural gas exploration blocks in the western Mediterranean up for auction by 1Q2020, a source from the company told Al Shorouk. EGAS has finalized studies and seismic scans, and is waiting for the Oil Ministry to make a final decision on the timeline and the number of concessions on offer.

The great gas rush of 2019: The ministry in February handed five gas exploration concessions in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta to Shell, Eni, BP, DEA and Petronas in the largest bid round in the state gas company’s history. A month later, the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) launched a tender for 10 oil and gas exploration blocks off Egypt’s Red Sea coast. It remains unclear when the ministry will announce the winning companies.

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.

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.

EGAS offers 16 Mediterranean & Nile Delta blocks in oil & gas bid round - ENTERPRISE

May 22, 2018

The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) launched the 2018 bid round for oil & gas exploration on 16 concession areas: 13 blocks in the Mediterranean Sea and three concessions in the onshore Nile Delta region.

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced in an Al Ahram newspaper advertisement that the deadline for receiving bids for the EGAS tender will be on October 1, 2018

Egypt Sets Deadlines For Oil And Gas Exploration Bids - RIGZONE / REUTERS

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Reporting by Ehab Farouk, writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Jason Neely

CAIRO, May 22 (Reuters) - Egypt has set October 1 and October 8 deadlines for two major international tenders for oil and gas exploration spanning 27 onshore and offshore blocks, the oil ministry said on Tuesday.

Bids for 11 blocs offered by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EPGC) must be submitted by October 1, the ministry said in an advertisement published in the state-run al-Ahram newspaper.

Companies interested in 16 concession areas offered under state-buyer EGAS must submit their bids by October 8, it said.

The EPGC tenders include five blocks in the Western Desert, two in the Nile Valley, three in the Gulf of Suez and one in the Eastern Desert.

The EGAS tender, described by the ministry as the largest in the company's history, includes 13 offshore Mediterranean blocks and 3 in the Nile Delta.

Egypt, Cyprus to sign deal to connect Aphrodite gas field with Egypt - REUTERS

APRIL 29, 2018 / 5:43 PM
Reporting by Nadine Awadalla and Patrick Werr; writing by Arwa Gaballa; editing by Jason Neely

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt aims to sign an agreement with Cyprus to connect the island’s Aphrodite gas field with Egypt, Egypt’s oil minister said on Sunday.

Tarek El Molla, speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt event in Cairo, also said the country was preparing a bid round for unexplored offshore areas west of the Nile Delta to the Libyan border.

“We intend to have a bid round in this area shortly,” Molla said.

Egypt may also invite companies to bid for oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea before year-end, he said.

Lessons In Attracting Upstream Investment Capital - FORBES

APR 27, 2018 @ 05:39 AM

Egypt’s astonishing gas renaissance

Not long ago, Egypt’s gas industry was in crisis. Production fell by a third in the three years to 2015; a top ten LNG exporter in the prior decade, the country had by then become a top ten importer. Nearly all available gas had to be diverted by the Government to serve the domestic market. As a result, export revenue dried up, the cost of gas imports soared and there was insufficient cash to pay contract commitments to E&P investors. Arrears ballooned to US$7 billion, and producers were becoming uneasy. Today, happily, things are very different and investment is flooding back in. What happened to turn things around? Stephen Fullerton, Upstream Research Analyst, identifies two key factors.

Eni strengthens record production from Nooros field offshore Egypt - ENI

15/03/2018 10:00

The Nooros field represents to date Eni’s main gas producing field in its Egyptian asset portfolio as well as an example of the success of the company’s integrated model

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 15 March 2018 - Eni has strengthened its record production from the Nooros gas field, offshore Egypt, which reached a production of 32 million cubic meters per day, equivalent to around 215,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). This production level represents the highest ever recorded by an Eni field in Egypt in the last 50 years.

This significant result has been reached thanks to the start-up of the NW-7 well, the thirteenth drilled within this field. Production levels will increase further by June 2018 when a fourteenth well, currently under drilling, will start-up. This is expected to allow Eni to reach 34 million cubic meters per day of production, equivalent to around 230,000 boed.

SDX Energy pursues Egypt, Morocco development in 2018 - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

HOUSTON, FEB/21/2018
Tayvis Dunnahoe

SDX Energy Inc. anticipates spudding the Ibn Yunus-1X exploration well at South Disouq, Egypt, in mid-March. The operator signed a contract with Sino-Tharwa Drilling Co. for the ST-6 rig, which includes agreement for four additional firm wells. The rig is on location in Egypt’s Western Desert completing drilling for a separate operator and is expected to be released this month.

SDX expects a 30-40 day drilling window targeting the Abu Madi conventional gas interval discovered in April 2017 in the SD-1X well, which tested 25.8 MMcfd and 43 b/d of condensate on a 48/64-in. choke (OGJ Online, Sept. 21, 2017). The Abu Maadi formation is at 7,100 ft. Once drilling is completed at Ibn Yunus-1X, the rig will move to the SD-1X discovery to drill two appraisal wells and then on to drill SDX’s Kelvin-1X exploration prospect.

The Ibn Yunus-1X and Kelvin-1X wells are targeting up to 150 bcf of gas and, if successful, SDX plans to tie back to the SD-1X processing facility.

Egypt Begins Production on Largest Undersea Gas Field in Mediterranean - VOA

December 18, 2017 3:00 PM
Edward Yeranian

CAIRO —

Egypt's economic prospects are looking brighter after the long-anticipated production of undersea gas from the al Zohr gas field began coming online in recent days.

Petroleum Minister Tareq al Molla tells Arab media the al Zohr field will be a major boon for the economy, saving $750 million to possibly several billion dollars a year in energy costs.

He says that the giant al Zohr gas field has a reserve of 30 trillion cubic feet and the first phase of production of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day is expected to be reached around mid 2018, with production being ramped up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day by mid- to late 2019.

Italy's ENI petroleum company is heading production of the al Zohr field, while the BP company is overseeing production of another large undersea gas field off Egypt's Nile Delta region, known as al Nooros.

BP expects six-fold net production growth in Egypt by 2020 - REUTERS

OCTOBER 24, 2017 / 5:02 PM

Reporting by Wendell Roelf. Editing by Jane Merriman

CAPE TOWN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - BP expects to increase net production from Egypt’s Nile Delta to increase six-fold to more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2020, from 50 mboed in 2016, its vice president for African exploration said on Tuesday.

Jasper Peijs said the increase would be underpinned by three major projects, including Atoll phase 1 and the Zohr offshore field operated by ENI. 

Distribution of Rigs in Egypt - EGYPT OIL & GAS