Eni has made a new oil discovery in the Meleiha Concession in the Western Desert, adding an extra 10,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) to the current concession production.

The discovery was made through the Arcadia 9 well, drilled on the Arcadia South structure and located 1.5 kilometers (km) south of the main Arcadia field already in production. Eni’s statement records encountering 85 feet (ft) of oil column in the Cretaceous sandstones of the Alam El-Bueib 3G formation. The well has been drilled and is already tied-in to production with a stabilized rate of 5,500 bbl/d.

Additionally, two development wells, Arcadia 10 and Arcadia 11, have been drilled back to back after the discovery from Arcadia 9. Arcadia 10 encountered 25 ft of oil column whereas Arcadia 11 encountered 80 ft within the Alam El-Bueib 3G formation and 20 ft of oil pay in the overlying Alam El Bueib 3D formation. All three wells share the same oil-water ratio in the discovered reservoir.

Eni credited the discovery to its successful implementation of its infrastructure-led exploration strategy which allowed a quick valorization of these new resources. It should be noted that Eni through its subsidiary; the Italian Egyptian Oil Company (IEOC) holds a 38% interest in the Meleiha concession, Lukoil holds a 12%, and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) holds a 50% interest.