US Apache intends to invest $100m in horizontal drilling on 20 wells in the Apollonia field located in the Egyptian Western Desert in order to produce around 40mcf/d of gas from limestone, reported Al Borsa. Apache will move forward with the investments once trails on vertical wells prove successful.

Khalda Petroleum’s CEO, Mohamed Abdel Azzim, stated that Apache and Shell, along with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), have signed an agreement to explore for gas from the limestone in Apollonia in the Western Desert. Abdel Azzim added that the budget for the Apollonia tests reached $24m allocated for drilling 3 vertical wells and connecting them to facilities. Furthermore, the company is currently preparing the second well with hydraulic fracturing technology to be brought online early January.

This comes as Apache had finished drilling 2 horizontal wells with total investments $7m in order to take samples to study the nature of the tank which will help in deciding on the suitable drilling and hydraulic fracturing programs. Additionally, the company drilled 2 vertical wells in Apollonia with investments $14m. Khalda Petroleum had finishing the drilling of the first in July 2016 with production capacity 6.5mcf/d of gas. The well’s production increased to reach 680mcf/d of gas in October 2016 due to the usage of the hydraulic fracturing technology.