Apex International Energy (Apex) announced a new oil discovery in Southeast Meleiha Concession (SEM), located in the Western Desert of Egypt.

The new oil discovery was attained at the SEMZ-11X well, located 10 km west of Zarif field. The well was drilled to a total depth of 5,700 feet and encountered 65 feet of oil pay in the Cretaceous sandstones of the Bahariya and Abu Roash G formations.

The well was Apex’s second exploration well in an ongoing three-well program following the acquisition and processing of 1,342 square kilometers of 3D seismic data in 2019-2020. The first well, the SEMZ-1X drilled last month, also discovered Bahariya oil with 17 feet of indicated pay.

The Apex’s founder and CEO, Roger Plank, stated that “these oil discoveries are an important step in our company’s development and in validating our strategy to grow an oil and gas company of substance through a combination of drilling and acquisitions.”

Additionally, Apex plans to drill the third well the SEMZ-3X to a depth of 5,700 feet in the Bahariya formation.

The Apex’s President and COO based in Cairo, Tom Maher, said: “We look forward to working together with our partners at EGPC to further explore and develop the considerable potential of our concession and to expeditiously bring online production from this first discovery.”