Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) drilled seven exploration wells that resulted in two new discoveries in the Geisum and Tawila fields, and Petromeliha field in the Gulf of Suez, which increased production rates by 5%, Alaa Al-Batal, Ganope’s Chairman stated.
His remarks came during Ganope’s general assembly for fiscal year (FY) 2019/20, headed by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla. Al-Batal stated that these discoveries have added 85 million barrels of extractable reserves, while daily production rates reached 23,000 barrels of crude per day (bbl/d), 4,252 tons of butane, and 2,360 million cubic feet of natural gas (mmcf).
Additionally, the company has connected 153000 housing, commercial, and industrial customers with natural gas in Upper Egypt, totaling the number of subscribers to 1.3 million customers. Al-Batal noted that Ganope managed to cut its expenses and rationalize spending through digital transformation and managed to cut costs by EGP 26 million.
The company has also managed to complete the first phase of geophysical data collection of open areas in the Red Sea, placing the Red Sea on the exploration and production (E&P) map by concluding three new agreements. The company has also completed 50% of the first phase of the geophysical data collection project in Upper Egypt. Currently, the company is promoting utilizing geothermal energy in generating electricity for interested companies per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics.
Tarek El Molla, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, stated that the ministry aims to achieve self-sufficiency for gasoline and diesel in Upper Egypt by FY 2022/23 and that a number of refining projects are underway to increase the production of the said petroleum products. He added that the ministry plans to expand the natural gas delivery project for households, either through pipelines or compressed natural gas (CNG) pipelines for remote areas. In addition to maximizing natural gas potentials as car fuel, the ministry aims to develop the pipelines’ infrastructure to allow easy transportation and reduce reliance on lorries.
