Cheiron Energy, the largest independent Egyptian oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company, announced that the early production facility (EPF) for the GNN oil field in the Gulf of Suez has been brought onstream.

The GNN field is located in the Geisum and Tawila West Concession in which Cheiron, through its PICO GOS affiliate, holds a 60% working interest and operatorship with Kufpec holding the remaining 40% interest.

The EPF has been installed in the central area of the field and includes a conductor support platform, a mobile offshore production unit, and a 10-inch oil export pipeline, tied back to the existing Geisum Star production complex.

The first well to come on stream across the EPF was GNN-6, which is currently producing circa 4,200 barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil. This well will be followed by the completion of two additional predrilled wells, GNN-3 and GNN-8, over the next few weeks and subsequently up to four additional wells will be drilled from the facilities.

To date, the southern area of the field has been appraised and developed using extended-reach drilling techniques, which has enabled the completion of three production wells from the existing Geisum field GD platform, with a further well currently being drilled from the platform.

When this phase of the GNN development activity has been completed it is anticipated that the gross oil production rate from the concession will exceed 25,000 bbl/d of oil.

The GNN field, which is estimated to hold over 300 million barrels of oil in place, was discovered by Cheiron in 2019. The discovery came after the implementation of an extensive, multi-year exploration and development campaign by Cheiron and its partners and was the first to be made in the Nukhul formation in the Geisum Concession. The oil find demonstrated the significant remaining exploration potential of the region, despite the Gulf of Suez being a relatively mature hydrocarbon province.

The installation of the new EPF was accomplished with the support and guidance of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and reflects the efforts of many stakeholders in the development, including the Petro Gulf Misr Joint Operating Company, Ganope, EGPC, Kufpec and key contractors such as PPIS, PMS, and Petrojet.