Esh El Mallaha Petroleum Company (Eshpetco) is planning to conduct its drilling plan for the current fiscal year of 2010-2011. The plan includes drilling two development wells and the possibility of drilling an exploratory well in the West Esh El Mallaha field in Hurghada.

Egypt Oil and Gas learned that the two development wells’ total cost will reach $5 million, compared to the fiscal year of 2009-2010 that Eshpetco only drilled two exploratory and development wells with the same cost. Those past year’s wells were drilled through the wd147 rig owned by Weatherford.

Eshpetco is awaiting the final results of the seismic studies to start initiating the drilling operations during next February, meaning by the end of the end of the last quarter of the current fiscal year of 2010-2011. The company will also be working on fixing more of its fields working process.

It is worth mentioning that Eshpetco is a joint-venture company between EGPC and the Russian LUKOIL oil company.