bp lets contract for work offshore Egypt - OIL & GAS JOURNAL

Aug. 14, 2023
Alex Procyk

bp has let a contract to drilling waste management specialist TWMA for large-scale oil and gas projects in Egypt.

TWMA will use its RotoMill drill cuttings processing technology to process all drilling waste generated from bp’s West Nile Delta (WND) and East Nile Delta (END) exploration and development projects in the Mediterranean Sea, the service provider said in a release Aug. 14.

WND is a multi-stage project which encompasses five fields in the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks (OGJ Online, Feb. 11 2019). END is in the North Damietta Offshore concession. bp has an 82.75% operating stake in WND and 100% equity in END.

RotoMill uses thermal desorption to separate drill cuttings and associated materials into oil, water, and solids for recycling and reuse. The recovered base oil can be reused in the drilling mud system.

Egypt: BP to Bring Raven Project Online by 2020 End - OFFSHORE ENGINEER

February 5, 2020

BP's phase three of the $12 billion West Nile Delta project offshore Egypt will come online by the end of this year, nearly 12 months behind the earlier scheduled deadline, the company said in a conference call this week.

The third phase includes the development of the Raven field, located in the offshore area encompassing five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks which BP is developing in phases.

“The Raven project in Egypt is now expected to come on stream around the end of 2020,” said BP during the quarterly results call. To remind, BP had in February 2019 said it would bring Raven online by the end of 2019.

Egyptian LNG to return to full operation - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

Houston, 20 September 2019

Peter Ramsay

The 7.2mn t/yr Egyptian LNG (ELNG) facility will return to 100pc of nameplate capacity next month, the firm’s senior optimisation manager Tamer Abdelsalam told the Gastech conference in Houston. It is currently operating at 90pc capacity.

Full output is a far cry from the dark days of mid-2013 to mid-2019, when the volume of feed gas reaching the plant hovered at 13-15pc of design capacity. During that period, ELNG produced just 31mn m³ of LNG and exported 21 cargoes, bring in only $354mn in revenues, says Abdelsalam.

The return of ELNG, located at Idku, to full capacity may not, though, be followed swiftly by a full restart of Egypt’s other export terminal at Damietta. “That is for the government,” says Adelsalam. “They are taking the lead in negotiations around Damietta.”

EMG gas pipeline to Egypt passes flow tests, targets end-year startup - PLATTS

01 Jul 2019 | 16:32 UTC
Lucie Roux, Editor: James Burgess

London — East Mediterranean Gas has successfully completed gas flow tests from Tamar's field in Israel, and exports to Egypt are expected to start by the end of the year, Israeli partner Delek Drilling said Monday.

"Today's announcement confirms that the technical side is now complete and the pipeline is now ready to handle up to 7 Bcm a year," a spokesman from Delek told S&P Global Platts.

Exports via EMG, together with the incremental production from BP's West Nile Delta and Eni's Zohr projects, should allow Egypt boost its LNG exports by the end of 2019.

The project's partners -- US-based producer Noble Energy, Delek Drilling and Egyptian-owned Sphinx EG -- have been working to bring the EMG back into service, with a reverse flow capability from the Leviathan field to Egypt, the spokesman said.

BP to Redirect Focus From Oil Assets in Egypt to Gas Reserves - YAHOO FINANCE / ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH

June 5, 2019

BP plc BP recently announced its decision to divest Gulf of Suez oil concessions in Egypt to an upstream energy firm Dragon Oil. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed yet.

With the divestment, the British energy giant is planning to focus on gas reserves located off the coast of Egypt. The company has already produced first gas from the West Nile Delta development’s second stage. The project entails the production of natural gas from the Giza and Fayoum fields and the integrated energy firm expects peak production of 700 million cubic feet of gas per day.

BP commenced the first stage of the West Nile Delta project in 2017 and is expecting to start gas production from the final stage by the second half of 2019. Notably, in the first stage, BP developed the Taurus and Libra fields, while the final stage involves the development of the Raven field.

Overall, the West Nile Delta is a major upstream project and the company is expecting the full development — comprising the first, second and final stages — to produce roughly 20% of the current natural gas production volumes in Egypt. BP added that the national gas grid will utilize the entire gas being produced from the West Nile Delta.

Cabinet denies giving up stake in Zohr gas field to foreign company - EGYPT TODAY

Sun, Jun. 2, 2019

CAIRO - The Cabinet's media center revealed Sunday that Egypt did not give up its stake in Egypt’s gas field,Zohr,to a foreign company, stressing that all the rumors on social media are baseless.

Zohr is not the only gas field in Egypt; West Nile Delta (WND), Greater Nooros Area, Atoll Phase 1, and WDDM – Burullus Phase 9B are all important gas fields that add to the national gas production.

Egypt’s total gas production came to 6.6 billion scfd in September, compared to 2017’s average of 5.1 billion scfd and 2016’s 4.4 billion scfd, according to the Petroleum Ministry, meaning that between 2018 and 2017, there was a 29.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Italian Oil Company Eni discovered Egypt's giant gas field, Zohr, in 2015. In December 2017, the company delivered the first gas production from the field estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet, which makes it the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean region.

Shell sees 150 mcf/d output drop in Burullus and Rashid natural gas fields - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 3 March 2019

Royal Dutch Shell’s natural gas output from the West Nile Delta Burullus and Rashid fields has declined to 250 mcf/d from 400 mcf/d the previous year due to decreasing well productivity, an Oil Ministry source told the domestic press. 

The company is aiming to link 100 mcf/d from Phase 9B of the Burullus gas field in 1H2019 to make up for part of the drop, the source said. 

The company had previously hoped to increase output to 450 mcf/d by the end of FY2018-2019, an EGAS source said.

BP Begins Gas Production From Phase 2 of West Nile Delta Project - SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS

13 February 2019

Gas is flowing in the second phase of the West Nile Delta development offshore Egypt, operator BP reported this week. Production, currently at around 400 MMcf/D, is expected to reach 700 MMcf/D at peak.

Developed as a long-distance deepwater tieback to an onshore plant, the second phase includes eight wells producing from the Giza and Fayoum fields. The West Nile Delta project as a whole consists of five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concessions, 65–85 km off Alexandria.

Phase 1 of the project, launched last year, consists of gas production from the Taurus and Libra fields. The first two phases target gas in the Pliocene formations. A third phase developing the Raven field, which holds gas in the deeper Miocene formations, is also expected to come on stream this year.

Combined production from all phases of the West Nile Delta project is expected to approach 1.4 Bcf/D, equivalent to about 20% of Egypt’s current gas production. All of the gas produced will be fed into the country’s national gas grid, the operator said.

Foreign oil and gas companies in Egypt to increase investments to USD 11 bn - ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Investment in Egypt by global oil majors is on track to rise c. 10% this fiscal year, unnamed industry sources told the local press. Total investment by global exploration and production companies should close the state’s 2018-19 fiscal year at c. USD 11 bn against USD 10 bn a year ago in part thanks to the Oil Ministry clearing some USD 5.1 bn in arrears it owed the companies, the story says. Major projects in the pipeline include second-phase drilling in the supergiant Zohr field, with a USD 300 mn tenth well set to be drilled next month, continued work in the North Alexandria offshore concession and the start of production from the first three wells of West Nile Delta. The Oil Ministry has recently reached an agreement with the companies to expedite their work on the latter projects. The projects are expected to produce a combined 800 mcf/d of natgas during the current fiscal year.

Egypt to test-run Giza, Fayoum gas fields - MENAFN

December 6, 2018, 8:56:59 AM

Egypt was announced to have decided to test-run Giza and Fayoum fields before this month ends, as part of a plan to boost natural gas output from deep waters.

The trial is to be launched with Egypt aiming to produce an average of 700 million cubic feet of gas a day from the fields by the first quarter of next year.

Since June this year, Egypt was able to see a 10 percent jump in its natural gas production to reach 6.6 billion cubic feet a day.

This increase was recorded after Egypt imposed hikes on production at Zohr offshore gas field for it to stand at 2 billion cubic feet per day.

The country is looking to see its gas production surge to hit 6.75 billion cubic feet per day before this year comes to an end, with a target to turn into an energy hub.

SDX, BP fail to reach agreement on Egypt assets - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 21 October 2018

BP talks to sell Egypt assets to SDX fail. SDX Energy has “terminated” talks to acquire BP’s Egypt assets after failing to reach an agreement, the company said in a statement on Thursday (pdf). SDX gave no color on why the talks broke down. SDX Energy announced last month that it was in open talks with BP to acquire “a significant package of [its] assets in Egypt.” It was not not immediately clear which assets SDX hoped to acquire, but the company said the transaction would take the form of a reverse takeover, allowing SDX entry to the London Stock Exchange’s main market. BP had been said to be shopping for buyers since at least March as part of a plan to sell USD 2-3 bn’s worth of maturing assets this year.

BP isn’t exiting Egypt: The global oil major plans to invest USD 2 bn in Egypt next year, BP North Africa Regional President Hesham Mekawi told Al Shorouk in an interview last month. Among the assets in which it is investing is its Raven field, which is part of its West Nile concessions in Fayoum and Giza. The Raven gas field is expected to come online in 2H2019, a source from the Oil Ministry official told Youm7 on Thursday. Production is expected to reach 350 mcf/d of gas.

Gas production of North Alexandria, West Delta fields to start in Dec. - EGYPT TODAY

Tue, Sep. 25, 2018

CAIRO – The second phase of gas production at North Alexandria and West Delta fields will start next December, according to Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla.

Molla clarified that production will reach 400 million cubic feet of gas daily at Giza and Fayoum fields, to gradually hit 700 million cubic feet/day.

This came during Molla’s periodic meeting with the High Joint Committee of the West Nile Delta Gas Project (BP, DEA).

He further noted that production at Revine gas field will begin during the third quarter of 2019, with 450 million cubic feet per day, gradually increasing to reach its maximum capacity of 900 million cubic feet of gas per day.

The minister emphasized the importance of fully adhering to the timetables set for the implementation of the second phase to ensure starting production at these fields on schedule, adding new quantities of natural gas to raise the rates of domestic production.

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.

BP seeking buyers for stake in ageing Egyptian business -sources - REUTERS

MARCH 15, 2018 / 7:48 PM 

Ron Bousso

• BP to focus on growing deepwater gas business
• GUPCO business said to be worth over $500 mln

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - BP is seeking buyers for its stake in a 50-year-old oil and gas business in Egypt as it focuses on newer deepwater gas fields off the country’s Mediterranean coast, banking sources said.

The London-based company has in recent weeks pitched to potential buyers its stake in Gulf of Suez Oil Company (GUPCO), a joint venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) that was set up in the 1960s.

A spokeswoman for BP declined to comment.

GUPCO produces over 70,000 barrels per day of oil and 400 million cubic feet per day of gas, the sources said.

Energy group DEA to invest $500 mln in Egypt oilfields - REUTERS

CAIRO, FEBRUARY 11, 2018 / 9:46 AM

Energy group DEA plans to invest nearly $500 million in developing its oilfields in Egypt over the next three years, its chief executive office said.

“We intend to pump around $500 million over the next three years in Egypt to develop the West Delta, DIsouq and the Gulf of Suez fields,” Maria Moraeus Hanssen told journalists in Cairo on Saturday evening.

The Hamburg-based company has been involved in exploration and development for oil and gas in Egypt since 1974. It is a partner of BP in the West Nile Delta gas fields.

Germany’s DEA eyes boosting investment in Egypt - EGYPT TODAY

Wed, Jan. 10, 2018

CAIRO – 10 January 2018: Germany’s DEA Group planned to pump more investments in Gulf of Suez and Disouq regions in Egypt, CEO of the group Maria Moraeus Hanssen said Wednesday.

In a meeting with Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla, Hanssen stated that Egypt is now an attractive investment destination especially after latest gas production from new fields, such as Zohr giant field and North Alexandria concession.

Egypt's Zohr: Towards self-sufficiency in gas? - AHRAM ONLINE

Friday 5 Jan 2018
Amany Ismail

Egypt’s Zohr Field, the largest offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean, started production on 16 December. It could prove to be a permanent remedy to Egypt’s power needs and bring it closer to the goal of self-sufficiency in the energy sector in 2018.

Egypt’s super-giant Zohr gas field begins production, completing BP’s major project start-ups for 2017 - BP

20 December 2017

BP today confirmed that production has started from the super-giant Zohr gas field, offshore Egypt. The field is operated by Eni, through its joint venture with The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and is the largest natural gas discovery yet to be made in the Mediterranean Sea.

Delivery of first gas from Zohr completes BP’s programme of seven Upstream major project start-ups in 2017. Zohr follows the earlier start-ups of the Khazzan project in Oman, Persephone in Australia, Juniper and the Onshore Compression project in Trinidad, Quad 204 in the UK, and the first phase of the West Nile Delta project, also in Egypt.

Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: “We are proud to have worked with Eni, Rosneft and the Egyptian government to deliver a project that is strategically important for Egypt and will help meet the country’s growing energy demand.

Door still open for East Med-Egypt gas - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

24 November 2017

Gina Cohen

Despite the country's natural gas sector booming, it could eventually need to import the fuel again

On 14 November, Egypt's oil minister Tarek El-Molla, told Bloomberg that "Egypt will stop importing liquefied natural gas in 2018 and may eventually export gas". This statement appeared to signal an end to the prospect of Eastern Mediterranean gas exports—from Israel and Cyprus—finding a market in Egypt. In Israel, much of the media interpreted his remarks as a sign that the country's hopes of exporting gas from the offshore Leviathan and Tamar gas fields to Egypt were dead.

At present, it's hard to imagine a day when Egypt would again be looking abroad for supplies. The second half of 2018 will be a golden moment, with its legacy gasfields still producing strongly, and the first phase of the mega-giant offshore Zohr field ramping up towards full production of around 76m cubic metres a day.

On the export front, even today, despite the shortage of gas supply for the local market, Egypt has allowed small volumes of liquefied natural gas sales, via Shell's Idku facility (0.8bn cm/d in 2016 and an expected 1.2bn cm/d in 2017).

West Nile Delta Phase 2 gas fields to produce 500-700 mmcf/d by 2018 - ENERGY EGYPT / ENTERPRISE / MUBASHER

November 8, 2017

The Oil Ministry is expecting the West Nile Delta (WND) gas fields – Giza and Fayoum – to produce 500-700 mmcf/d (TEKMOR Note: approx 0,2 tcf per year) when they come online by the end of 2018, the ministry said in a statement.

More West Nile Delta gas fields to begin production late 2018

The Egyptian minister of petroleum said that natural gas production from the second phase of the West Nile Delta (WND) project will begin by the end of 2018.

Tarek El Molla added that fields including Giza and Fayoum will have a production capacity ranging between 500 and 700 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d).

Production is set to reach 1.6 billion cubic feet per day, with a 70-kilometer pipeline currently under construction.

It was previously reported that the fields are expected to cover around 25% of Egypt’s gas demand upon completion.

According to Al Ahram, gas extraction from the West Nile Delta fields is carried out in cooperation with British Petroleum (BP) and Germany’s DEA group.