RWE Dea has made a new gas discovery in the Egyptian Nile Delta. In the onshore part of the Disouq concession, the South Sidi-Ghazy 1x-well found the Messinian formation gas bearing for the second time.
South Sidi-Ghazy 1x was spudded on July 20, 2008 and drilled to a total depth of 3188 m within the Late Miocene. The well encountered a gas bearing interval of 24 m column. Formation evaluation and the Modular Dynamics Tester Tool (MDT) confirmed the presence of gas in the intervals of 2,747 m to 2,771 m with porosities in the range of 27%.

The prospect is based on a seismic anomaly within the Upper Messinian succession, which shows direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHI) conformable with a four way dip closure at the top of the Messinian succession in analogue to the North Sidi-Ghazy discovery, drilled by RWE Dea in 2008.
The Disouq concession was awarded to RWE Dea in July 2004. The block covers an onshore area of 5,375 km2 within the densely populated farmland of the Nile Delta region of Egypt. The South Sidi Ghazy-1x well is the fifth well drilled by RWE Dea in the Disouq Concession. It is located 7.5 km south/south-west of the North Sidi Ghazy-1x discovery. Following the two successful Messinian wells, a third exploration well (North West Khilala – 1x) will be drilled to test another potential Messinian structure.

RWE Dea has already been engaged in Egypt since 1974 and has been producing oil as operator in the Gulf of Suez for 25 years now. In addition, the company is engaged as operator and partner in exploration and production of gas and oil in sites located in the Nile Delta and onshore in the Western Desert region. RWE Dea has a total of 15 onshore and offshore concessions in Egypt, across a total area of roughly 15,500 square kilometers.

(Rigzone)