Kalabsha Processing Facilities Help Apache Reach Egypt Output Target
New production from the Faghur Basin has pushed Apache Corporation’s Egyptian gross oil and gas production to over 330,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boed), surpassing a goal set in 2005, it said on 16 June. Incremental production from several discoveries in Faghur have pushed output from the basin above 26,000 b/d following the completion of new processing and transportation facilities at Kalabsha. The 2X campaign was launched in late 2005, seeking to double the company’s Western Desert output to 326,076 boed over a period of five years. At an investment of $4.2bn, the company drilled 869 new wells and designed and built new gathering facilities and gas processing trains in the Qasr field and Qarun concession, as well as installed compression units on Egypt’s northern gas pipeline. “Going forward, with 11 million acres to explore and develop, active seismic acquisition and exploration programs, and new infrastructure projects in the pipeline such as the second phase of the Kalabsha facilities, our Egyptian operations will continue to be a key driver in Apache’s growth,” the company said.
Apache recently completed the Phiops-9 well at Faghur, which tested oil at 4,632 b/d from the Alam el-Bueib-3E (AEB-3E) formation and is expected to begin production immediately. Apache also plans to install new infrastructure by year-end to increase production from the Faghur Basin to 40,000 b/d. Faghur is 140km southwest of the Matruh Basin, another focus area for Apache, which has also achieved high yields from the AEB and Safa formations. At Matruh, the company is planning to drill 11 additional exploration wells and two more appraisal wells as part of its 2010 drilling campaign (MEES, 31 May). Apache operates 22 concessions in Egypt in joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and was recently awarded extensions on its concession agreements for its Khalda Offset and East Bahariya holdings, also in the Western Desert (MEES, 1 March).
Copyright MEES 2010.
