The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt has announced the discovery of a new natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea — the exploration well Nasim-1X has an initial estimate of about 200 billion cubic feet.
Drilling and appraisal work in the Taiba concession area encountered a gas-bearing reservoir around 15 metres thick with distinct geological and petrophysical characteristics. Technical studies and reservoir evaluation are continuing to determine potential flow rates and the commercial viability of development.
The plan is to tie the well into existing facilities with a pipeline of about 22 kilometres, connecting it to the Abu-Madi — El-Gamil pipeline to use existing infrastructure and shorten the time to first production. Final production volumes will be determined after further work.
Italian company Eni operates the Taiba concession in partnership with Australian Woodside, and Egyptian Petrobel carried out the drilling on behalf of the partners. The positive outcome is linked to increased investment and exploration activity and the settlement of overdue financial receivables to foreign companies. Egypt aims to increase domestic gas production after declines in recent years, relying on the development of new fields and acceleration of exploration work to meet demand from power generation and industry.
