BP Finalises West Nile Delta Gas Project Deal

BP on Friday announced that it has signed the final agreements of the West Nile Delta (WND) project to develop 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas resources and 55 million barrels (mmbbls) of condensates.

Estimated total investment would be around $12 billion by BP and its partner.

“The project underlines BP’s commitment to the Egyptian market and is a vote of confidence in Egypt’s investment climate and economic potential,” BP said.

The British energy major expects production from WND is expected to reach up to 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d), equivalent to about 25 per cent of Egypt’s current gas production and significantly contribute to increasing the supply of energy in the country.

All the produced gas will be fed into the country’s national gas grid, helping to meet the anticipated growth in local demand for energy. Production is expected to start in 2017.

“The WND project investment is the largest foreign direct investment in Egypt, and demonstrates our continued confidence in Egypt and our commitment to unlock its energy potential. WND production is key to Egypt’s energy security,” said Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive.

Gas will be produced from two BP-operated offshore concession blocks, North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater. BP believes that there is the potential through future exploration to add a further 5-7 tcf which could boost WND production with additional investments.

BP has about 65 per cent equity in the project partnership.