On Sunday, Apex International Energy (Apex) announced that the Fajr-8 development well located in Egypt’s Western Desert was tested and is expected to yield a daily rate of 2,440 barrels of oil and negligible water.
The well encountered 98 feet of high-quality oil pay in sandstone of the Bahariya Formation. The well was connected to production facilities and started production on 8 May, less than four days after the rig’s release.
The Fajr-8 well is located in the company’s southeast Meleiha (SEM) concession that is operated by Farah Petroleum Company (PetroFarah) — a joint venture operating company of Apex and the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) that was established in April 2021.
PetroFarah recently celebrated its first year of safe and efficient operations with no injuries to people or harm to the environment.
Fajr-8 will be the fifth producing well in the Fajr Field since the commercial discovery was approved for development by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in March 2021.
Together, with the producing Farah (three wells) and Mashreq (one well) fields in SEM — which were also approved for development in 2021 — total SEM oil production is expected to increase from 4,300 barrels per day currently to over 6,000 barrels per day from nine total wells this week.
All wells produce from intervals less than 5,000 feet in depth.
“PetroFarah’s rapid development of the three new field discoveries made by Apex in 2021 is a testament to the strong relationship and sense of urgency we share with EGPC to increase Apex’s and Egypt’s oil production,” said Apex’s Founder and Chairperson Roger Plank.
“With a second rig being utilised at SEM later this month and numerous drilling locations identified, we look forward to continued development success,” added Tom Maher — Apex’s President and CEO.
“We also have a strong inventory of other exploration prospects and leads across SEM and the neighbouring east Siwa block that were awarded in the 2021 EGPC bid round to Apex (50%) and our partner, Eni subsidiary IEOC (50%).”
Apex holds a 100% working interest in the SEM exploration concession, encompassing 1,713 sqkm. The company acquired the concession interest through the EGPC’s 2016 exploration bid round and signed the concession agreement in August 2017.
