BP Makes 3rd Gas Find in Egypt Block

BP said March 27 it has made its third gas discovery in Egypt’s North Damietta offshore concession in the east Nile Delta, in which BP has 100% equity.

CEO Bob Dudley (pictured below) said: “Qattameya marks our third discovery in the block where we are already developing the Atoll field and appraising the Salamat discovery. This latest discovery confirms our belief that the Nile Delta is a world-class basin.”

(Photo credit: BP)

Drilled to a total depth of 1,961 metres in water depth of 108 metres, the Qattameya Shallow-1 exploration well confirmed the presence of 37 metres of net gas pay, said BP. Options to tie the find back to nearby infrastructure are being studied; the well is just 35 km west of Ha’py offshore facilities.

BP has stakes in a range of Egyptian upstream joint ventures, including 40% of Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (Gupco) which has produced almost 40% of Egypt’s entire oil production, a stake in Pharaonic Petroleum Company and Petrobel, 82.75% of the West Nile Delta (WND) partnership, and 10% of the Eni-operated Sharouk concession (with an option to acquire a further 5%) where the giant 30 trillion ft³ Zohr gas field is.

BP also says it is in various partnerships – including Pharaonic Petroleum Co which is developing Atoll – that produce close to 40% of Egypt’s total gas. Atoll involves the development of 1.5 trillion ft³ of gas resources. It also markets gas as an alternative fuel for vehicles in Egypt.

In an interview with Egyptian petroleum minister Tareq el-Molla on BP's website, the minister is quoted as saying that four big gas developments, in which BP is a partner or operator, namely WND, Atoll, Zohr and Nooros will account for total production of more than 5.5bn ft³/d by around 2020. He said that could be enough to generate a surplus available for gas exports, and said Egypt's 2016 agreement with Cyprus that includes the possibility in future for Cypriot gas to come to Egypt for either the latter's domestic market but also for export through Egypt's Idku and Damietta liquefaction plants.

Mark Smedley