DEA Plans to Invest $500mn in Egypt (Update)

adds net DEA production in Egypt in final line

Hamburg-based producer DEA said February 12 it plans to double its Egyptian gas and oil production in the next few years by investing in its main assets. CEO Maria Moraeus Hanssen said: “We see an upside potential in the mature oil fields in the Gulf of Suez that we aim to lift. Our Disouq gas development project will be re-developed. The development of the next three fields at West Nile Delta (WND) is making good progress too. In total, DEA plans to invest another $500mn in the coming three years into these key assets.”

Gulf of Suez oil is produced by SUCO, DEA’s joint venture with state Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC); both partners agreed on the concession extension of the fields Ras Budran and Zeit Bay.

Disouq comprises onshore seven gas fields and has been in production since 2013, and includes DEA, EGPC and SUCO as partners.

Production from the offshore WND gas fields started March 2017 from the first two fields, Taurus and Libra. Three more fields – Giza, Fayoum and Raven – are under development. DEA has a 17.25% interest in WND, while BP is operator with 82.75%.

DEA, which is owned by Russian-controlled LetterOne, is looking at a potential merger of its upstream interests with those of BASF-owned Wintershall, which would nominate the CEO if the merger went ahead.

DEA's statement did not provide current production volumes from the three main assets discussed above.

Update February 13: However a spokesman told NGW that DEA's net production in Egypt is currently 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which it hopes to double in the next two years, as a result of the extra $500mn spent over the coming three years.