New discovery highlights Egypt's potential as emerging oil producer

A new oil discovery in the Western Desert of Egypt could unlock a new area for production gains in the country, Italian energy company Eni said Monday.

Eni said it made its second oil discovery in the B1-X exploration area in the Western Desert. It's located about 4 miles away from an earlier discovery dubbed A2-X and was already producing about 5,100 barrels of oil per day.

The company said the discovery established the region as one with a high production potential.

"Eni plans, in the near term, the drilling of other exploratory prospects located nearby the A2-X and B-1X discoveries to consolidate what can result as a new productive area for Eni in Egypt," the company's statement read.

Known more for offshore gas resources, Egyptian oil prospects are quickly catching up. Last month, regionally-focused SDX Energy said the results from a drilling operation in the Gulf of Suez could dictate the next steps for oil exploitation.

SDX in June started drilling an appraisal well, designated SRM-3, at the South Ramadan basin. That field is located between the Ramadan field, with an estimated 550 million barrels of oil, and the Morgan field, with an estimated 1.5 million barrels of oil.

Eni said it produces about 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Western Desert. Any new production from the area would run through existing pipelines to a refinery once development plans are approved by the Egyptian government.

The Italian company is Egypt's main producer, with equity production of around 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
    (upi)
 9/7/18
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