Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi has met with Nicholas Katcharov, CEO & Chairman of Energean International E&P S.p.A and Energean Egypt’s Country Manager, to follow up on the developments in the company’s activities in Egypt related to natural gas exploration and production in a number of regions within the Mediterranean.

The meeting reviewed gas development and production work from the areas of Abu Qir offshore, north of Idku, and north of Amriya, as well as the area East Bir El Nus for research and exploration for natural gas.

The company explained that the exploration well NAQ-PII#EAST is currently being completed after discovering two layers bearing gas and oil. It is expected to produce about 15 million cubic feet of gas per day, in addition to condensates.

The well is being placed on the production map by mid-August. In addition, the company has tracked the NAQ-PII#6 well and re-completed the NAQ-PII#2 well.

The current production in the Abu Qir fields area reached about 65 million cubic feet of gas per day (mcf/d) and 1,250 barrels per day (bbl/d) of condensates after drilling four new wells, linking them to marine production facilities, and bringing them into production at full capacity at the end of last year.

The meeting further reviewed efforts to conduct a study to increase production from the North Abu Qir field by adding a new sea line 3 km long between the two berths, NAQ PIII and NAQ PII, at an investment cost ranging between $10-$12 million.

Studies are also currently underway for the deep layers in the concession areas of the Abu Qir deep fields, north of Idku, and north of Amriya, which show promising layers.