BP Egypt this week announced another major gas discovery in the East Nile Delta
The multinational oil & gas giant said they expect the find, made in the North Damietta Offshore Concession, to be the deepest well ever drilled in the country.
A statement from the company said the Atoll-1 deepwater exploration well, currently being drilled by the Maersk Discoverer semi-submersible rig, had reached a depth of 6,400 metres and penetrated approximately 50 metres of gas pay in high quality Oligocene sandstones.
The Atoll well, located around 80 km north of Damietta city, still has another kilometre to drill to test the same reservoir section found to be gas bearing in BP’s significant 2013 Salamat discovery, 15 kilometres to the south.
BP group chief executive, Bob Dudley said, “Success in Atoll further increases our confidence in the quality of the Nile Delta as a world class gas basin. This is the second significant discovery in the licence after Salamat.
“The estimated potential in the concession exceeds 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and we now have a positive starting point for the next possible major project in Egypt after BP’s West Nile Delta project.”
The firm announced last week that it has agreed a deal to develop gas fields in Egypt’s West Nile Delta, where it expects to invest around US$12bn, along with its local partners.
BP North Africa president Hesham Mekawi said, “We are proud of our commitment to unlock Egypt’s exploration potential that requires large investments to utilise using the latest drilling and seismic technologies.”
BP has 100 per cent equity in the Atoll-1 discovery, which was drilled at a depth of 923 metres.
