Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi has visited operation sites in the Eastern Desert and conducted a workshop for several companies working there to follow up on the latest developments and status of production.

Chairman of Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO) Salah Abdel Kareem showcased the company’s achievements, especially in safety, boosting production, and enhancing asset integrity. He noted that GUPCO is drilling five new wells in North Safa, in addition to two other exploratory wells

Abdel Kareem highlighted a significant achievement in asset integrity with the replacement of old pipelines with new ones, involving investments of $110 million. He also outlined the company’s plan to replace gas compressors used in crude artificial lift, with investments amounting to $80 million.

Additionally, Khaled Mowafi, the Chairman of Belayim Petroleum Company (Petrobel), mentioned that the company has 14 exploration opportunities with total reserves of 55 million barrels and it plans to drill two exploratory wells; one in the South Firan area with reserves of 4 million barrels and the other is the A- 8 with reserves 4 million barrels and production rates of 2,000 barrels per day (bbl/d).

He added that Petrobel directed towards developing unconventional wells with reserves of 10.5 million barrels through using untraditional solutions.

Moreover, Mohamed El Khayat, Chairman and Managing Director of Suez Oil Company (SUCO), presented the challenges faced by the company and how they are working for the optimum exploitation of the available resources. He also mentioned how the company provided its facilities to other companies to reduce barrel costs.

El Khayat said that SUCO has two main targets; the first is to double the production during Q2 of fiscal year (FY) 2024/25. The second is to use all opportunities outside the current development area such as the southwestern region of Ras Badran field which is expected to increase the reserves to 172 million barrels

Also, Abdel Wahab El Maghawry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Petrogulf Petroleum, said that the company was able to increase its reserves to 85 million barrels after adding 13.2 million barrels. 

El Maghawry added that the company plans to reach zero flare gas by replacing the generators run by diesel with those run by natural gas.

He said that Geisum’s discovery was a turning point for the company which increased the production to more than 20,000 bbl/d after it had been 4,000 bbl/d.

For his part, Offshore Shukair Oil Company (OSUCO) Chairman Waleed Al Aasar announced that the company has reserves of 49 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) and has a plan for drilling four exploratory wells to increase production and reserves. He pointed out that the average production amounts to 5,700 bbl/d and it is planned to be increased during the FY 2024/25 by drilling nine wells. Al Aasar added that OSUCO is expected to produce 8,500 bbl/d by the end of FY 2026/27.

During the workshop, Badawi highlighted the necessity of working safely and increasing safe working hours which will support increasing the exploration and production operations in addition to achieving sustainability and providing an attractive investment climate.

He also affirmed the importance of innovations and digital technology to support the plans and efforts of increasing production.