BP Egypt announced a new gas discovery in the Baltim South Development Lease in the East Nile Delta, according to press statement released on Thursday.
The statement said that the Baltim SW-1 exploration well, drilled at a depth of 25 metres by operator IEOC (Eni), reached a total depth of 3750 metres and penetrated approximately 62 metres of net gas pay in high quality Messinian sandstones.
The discovery, located 12 kilometres from the shoreline, is a new accumulation along the same area of the Nooros field discovered from July 2015 and currently produces 65,000 barrels of oil per day.
Regional President of BP North Africa Hesham Mekawi said that Baltim SW-1 well is the third discovery along the Nooros trend, adding that this discovery confirms the great potential of the Messinian area..
“Our plan is to utilise existing infrastructure which will accelerate the development of the discovery, and expedite early production start-up,” Mekawi said. “BP holds a 50% stake in the Baltim South Development lease, and Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds 50%.”
The well was drilled by Petrobel, a joint venture between Eni and state partner Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
BP has made a series of discoveries in Egypt in recent years, including Taurt North, Seth South, Salmon, Rahamat, Satis, Hodoa, Notus, Salamat, and Atoll.
BP is a 33% shareholder of a natural gas liquids (NGL) plant extracting LPG and propane, United Gas Derivatives Company (UGDC) in partnership with ENI/IEOC and GASCO (the Egyptian midstream gas distribution company).
