Shell Egypt today announced four discoveries in its Western Desert acreages of Badr El-Din (BED) development leases and West Sitra Concession. The Badr El-Din leases are operated by Bapetco – Shell Egypt’s Joint Venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), while the West Sitra Concession is operated by Shell Egypt.
In April 2006, Shell Egypt and Bapetco made the first Alam el-Buieb discovery in the Abu Gharadig basin in the BED 1 Development lease. The BED 1-19 development well was spudded in January 2006 to target the main producing Kharita reservoir and the exploration potential of the deeper Lower Cretaceous Alam el-Buieb section below the BED 1 oil field. The presence of hydrocarbons was confirmed in BED 1-19, within the Alam El Bueib formation, with a net pay interval totaling 38 meters. BED 1-19 was subsequently tested at a rate of approximately 25 million standard cubic feet of gas (post frac) and 2,050 barrels of oil and condensate per day.
In November 2006, Shell Egypt and Bapetco drilled the exploration well BED 2-C2-1 within the BED 2 Development lease. The well encountered gas bearing sandstone reservoirs in the Abu Roash and the Upper and Lower Bahariya formations. A production test on the Abu Roash interval produced 17 million standard cubic feet of gas and 2,000 barrels of oil and condensate per day. The well was hooked up to the BED 2 facilities immediately after testing, and came on stream 2 weeks after the release of the drilling rig. The Bahariya interval will be tested at a later date
In December 2006, Shell Egypt made the first Jurassic discovery in the West Sitra Concession. The company completed the deep Jurassic exploration well WS-J1-1, reaching a total depth of 5,077 meters in the Khatatba formation. The well encountered 39 meters of gas in the Upper Safa Sandstone. The well is currently undergoing testing.
Also in December, Shell Egypt completed its Cretaceous exploration well, WS C1-3, at a total depth of 2,406 meters in the Bahariya Formation, in its West Sitra Concession. The well encountered 16 meters of net gas pay. The plan is to test the well after the WS-J1-1 well test.
“Shell Egypt’s exploration activities in 2006 have been extremely successful. The encouraging results from untapped formations of the Alam el-Buieb in BED 1-19 and Khatatba the in WS J1, confirm our belief in, and commitment to the active pursuit of new exploration opportunities in the Western Desert,” said Zainul Rahim, Country Chairman of the Shell Companies in Egypt.